


Hit The Ground Running

by pinkanddirtyneon



Category: The Killers, brandon flowers - Fandom, ronnie vannucci - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Smut, the desired effect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-01-16 00:07:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 57,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18509893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkanddirtyneon/pseuds/pinkanddirtyneon
Summary: Brandon's been drinking enough coffee to sustain a small town just so he can see Tessa as often as possible. Tessa's been taking up extra hours at work on the off chance that she might get to see Brandon for an extra few minutes. Ronnie and Tom are pretty sure the whole situation would be better if the two would just bone already.Originally posted to pinkanddirtyneon on Wattpad.





	1. Chapter 1

"I am not driving you an extra 40 minutes for a fucking coffee, Brandon."

Brandon pouted at his friend, glancing at the clock and leaning over the counter in his kitchen.

"Please, Ronnie! It's really good coffee! They do these flavors that will just change your life I swear!"

Ronnie rolled his eyes and continued tapping a lazy, simple beat with his drumsticks against the counter of Brandon's kitchen. He had arrived about an hour ago hoping to catch up with his friend, and since then had been listening to his whining about how much better the coffee was in the place nearly an hour away compared to the place around the corner.

"Your sweet tooth is not a good enough reason. Did you invite me over here just to ask me to take you to some coffee place at the other side of town? Take yourself for a damn coffee!"

Brandon groaned and set his forehead on the counter, "I need caffeine. Are you really gonna let me die of caffeine withdrawal here in my own kitchen?"

"The only shortage you're gonna die of is attention," Ronnie shook his head, "And I will take you for coffee, but only to the Starbucks that's like ten minutes from here. It all fucking tastes the same."

Brandon raised his head and pouted again. If pleading wouldn't work, his puppy-dog face might do the trick. Sure enough, Ronnie faltered.

"You asshole. Stop that! Grown-ass man pouting at me over his fucking chai matcha spiced almond frappe or whatever the hell it is you order. No!"

Ronnie stomped out of the kitchen and onto the adjoining balcony, sliding the door behind him. Brandon glanced at the clock again. 4.30pm. He sighed and tapped his foot impatiently against the counter. After a moment, he moved to his couch and slid his phone out of his pocket, absentmindedly scrolling through his contacts list. He wasn't looking for anything, he just knew it would make Ronnie more mad to turn around and see Brandon standing around pouting at nothing in particular, and he was hoping to guilt trip him into getting his way.

He could perfectly well go to the coffee shop on his own. But he had already been earlier today. He felt like he needed to go back with someone else to maintain any illusion of subtlety, even if it was only for his own peace of mind.

After a couple of minutes, the door slid open again and Brandon prepared his best puppy eyes. Instead, he heard Ronnie whistle sharply at him. Turning around in his seat, he was puzzled to see Ronnie smirking back at him with his own phone held just away from his ear.

"Who's the hot waitress, Brando?" He wiggled his eyebrows.

Brandon's shoulders tensed and he turned away again to hide his reddening cheeks.

"Uhh... who?"

Ronnie giggled delightedly, a rare sound and one that made Brandon wince. He wasn't going to be able to bullshit his way out of this conversation.

"Hot coffee girl! I called Dave to bitch about you suddenly becoming some sort of coffee diva and he says there's a coffee place you go to just because the waitress is smokin'!"

Brandon sighed. Dave. He knew he shouldn't have taken him there but it had been a long day, and the lucky bastard lived right around the corner from the place. He wasn't great at keeping away even when he was in his own apartment, right at the other side of town.

"Fine, if you're not gonna tell me I'm just gonna ask Dave," Ronnie shrugged, bringing his phone back to his ear.

Brandon grimaced and got out of his seat, looking at Ronnie with defeated eyes as he returned to his original position. Ronnie grinned at him and abruptly hung up on Dave as he stepped back into the kitchen.

"She's... she's pretty," Brandon mumbled, more at the fridge than Ronnie.

"I hung up the phone for 'she's pretty'? 'Pretty', Brandon?" Ronnie snorted, "Dave was being much more descriptive. He said her ass is like-"

"Ronald!" Brandon snapped, throwing a coaster at his head and missing, "I know what Dave thinks! Which is why he's never coming back to the shop with me again! She's... very pretty."

Ronnie rolled his eyes so far back in his head that Brandon wasn't sure they were going to reemerge.

"Well I'll be damned. Brandon Flowers has a crush. Go on then, Romeo, what's her name?"

Brandon blushed.

"You haven't asked her what her fucking name is?"

"There's never been a good moment!"

"How long have you been ogling?"

"I do NOT ogle, Ronald. But... I don't know, like a month and a half?" Two months and six days. He knew because he considered the first day he went in there to be their anniversary. But he would rather die than tell Ronnie that.

"Jesus Christ, Brandon," Ronnie sighed, "Fine. Fucking fine. Get your damn coat so I can take you to see Miss Very Pretty Waitress."

Brandon lit up, literally jumping up and down.

Ronnie frowned, "Please do not do that in front of her."


	2. Chapter 2

Two more hours to go until I'm free. Tessa drew in a deep breath, and straightened her apron.

"Damn, really counting down the minutes today," Tom laughed.

"Did I say that out loud?" She frowned at her colleague, "Sorry, I'm more tired than I thought."

Tom smiled sympathetically and continued rearranging the napkins on top of the display case while Tessa stretched out her arms and shoulders. It had been an eight hour shift already, and she knew she couldn't complain about the extra two because she was grateful for the money. But it had been a long day, with only one redeeming moment that was too many hours ago now.

"I noticed Brandon got a haircut," Tom smirked. 

"If we're gonna have a good working relationship, I'm really gonna need you to stop reading my mind." Tessa said, placing her hand on her hip. 

"He's dreamy though."

"Yeah thanks, I did notice that."

"Why don't you ask him if he wants you to swallow it?" 

Tessa choked on her water as Tom snickered at his own joke. 

"No? So what you do is get his number, call him and say daddy, dadd--" Tom was cut short when a pen bounced off his head. 

"I can't believe I'm about to face life in prison for murdering my colleague with a macaroon," Tessa muttered.

In an attempt to physically escape the conversation, she crouched behind the counter and started digging through the stack of disposable cups to locate the Halloween themed versions at the back of the cupboard. If she got ahead of at least one job her boss had asked them to take care of this week, maybe she could make a quicker exit than normal. If only it were that simple. 

"MotherFUCKER!" Tessa yelped, as she tried to use her entire body to quell the oncoming avalanche of coffee cup lids she had created by daring to alter the precarious balance.

"Uhh... hello?"

She jumped at the soft voice, glancing around her to notice for the first time that Tom was no longer beside her.

"Hi!" She called, as cheerfully as possible, while she wiggled the cupboard door shut with her knee. She sighed and grabbed a towel, tying the handle of the cupboard to the one next to it. That was going to be tomorrow's problem. 

Jumping up from below the counter, she shuffled her skirt down and turned towards the cash register, ready to ring in what would probably be one of the final orders of the night.

Shit.

She would work late every night if it meant she would get to see the man on the other side of the counter twice instead of just once a day. He was smiling slightly, his hair endearingly windswept from the evening breeze and both hands shoved in his pockets.

"Hey Brandon," she smiled at him, cursing herself for choosing that exact moment to try to be a good employee. She could feel her hair sticking up at unnatural angles and her shirt was coming untucked from leaning into the cupboard. 

"Uh, I was just in a bitch fight with our holiday cups, sorry," she laughed, mostly to give her a reason not to fall to the floor and never get up again. 

Brandon giggled and her heart fluttered. Ugh. What was she, a teenager again? 

"That's ok. Can we get a salted caramel hot chocolate and a..?"

For the first time, Tessa's gaze moved to the other man behind the counter. He was taller and wider than Brandon, and grinning at her curiously. She hadn't even noticed he was there, and did her best to not look as surprised as she felt. 

"Just a coffee please. No milk."

"Of course. Medium or dark?"

"Medium."

"Great. Can I get your name?" 

"Ronnie," he smiled warmly and reached his hand out to her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Brandon's jaw drop slightly. After a second of bemused staring, she took his hand.

"Tessa," she laughed, "It's nice to meet you, Ronnie. I don't think anyone has been so chivalrous about a coffee before." 

Ronnie smiled and shrugged, and the two men moved to Brandon's regular table a couple of feet away from the counter. Tessa shook her head and joined Tom, sticking the piece of paper with the order on it to the surface in front of him.

"Did you find out how big his dick is yet?" Tom said, too loudly for Tessa's comfort, despite the noise of the machine making it impossible Brandon had heard them. 

"Amazingly that didn't come up in our 30 second conversation," she retorted. 

"If you were playing this game right it would 'come up', 30 seconds or not." 

"DON'T."


	3. Chapter 3

"Can you even drink coffee with your jaw unhinged like that?" Ronnie teased, eyeing Brandon who was, in turn, staring intently at Tessa as she scooped her hair into a ponytail and talked to the guy making their coffees. 

Brandon blushed furiously and pouted at the floor.

"Oh my god. I did not drive you all the way here for you to still be fucking pouting at me, Brando. What's wrong now?" 

Brandon sighed, "You've known Tessa for what, five minutes? And you've had more physical contact with her than I have in months of hanging out here!" He went back to pouting.

Ronnie rolled his eyes and groaned.

"I shook her hand, dude. Also, the only reason you were able to call her by name just now is because I am here, so cut it out." 

"One salted caramel hot chocolate and one coffee, no milk!" 

The closeness of Tessa's voice made Brandon jump in his chair, and he could almost hear Ronnie rolling his eyes again. 

"Thanks," Ronnie smiled at Tessa, "What's that accent you've got there?" 

"Scottish," Tessa replied, "But I've been in the US for a few years, I think I'm losing it." 

"No way," Brandon's voice surprised even him, "You've totally still got it." 

Tessa smiled at him and it made him want to sink through the ground and melt into the core of the earth. With a quick thanks, she headed back to the counter and Brandon groaned and bumped his head against the table. 

"I mean, that wasn't totally terrible," Ronnie said.

Brandon groaned again, "I said out loud, to her face, 'you've still got it.' I could have said anything and I said that." 

Ronnie nodded and sipped his coffee.

"Amazingly, I think she found it... cute," He offered, after a few seconds, "Endearing, maybe."

As Brandon rolled his forehead against the table, the shop door burst open. He raised his head just in time to see an annoyingly handsome new customer scoop Tessa into a hug from behind, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around a few times. 

"I'm sure he's no one..." Ronnie tried to interject as he watched Brandon's face fall.

"He's been here before," Brandon said softly, looking back down at his drink, "A few times. They seem close." 

After a few moments of attempting to start some light conversation with a now very moody Brandon, Ronnie sighed and sipped his coffee in silence. He knew from experience that Brandon couldn't be talked out of his moods. And besides, he was way too busy trying to figure out how to shoot lasers out of his eyes to listen to anything Ronnie said.

"I can't watch this," a voice appeared beside them, and this time it was Ronnie who jumped. He looked over his shoulder to see Tom, who reached out to haphazardly wipe down the perfectly clean table. 

"His name is Jason. They work out together," Tom said quietly, glancing occasionally towards the only other occupied table, "She's definitely not into him. I can't say the same is true the other way because I don't know him well enough, but he's nothing for you to worry about." 

Brandon had perked up, and was smiling up at Tom like a 5 year old on Christmas morning. 

"Oh my god," Tom whined, "I couldn't not tell you, it was like watching a puppy who's toy has rolled out of reach under the garden fence." 

Brandon seemed to remember where he was, and blushed again, "It's none of my business." He kicked Ronnie sharply in the shin when he heard him scoff. 

Tom rolled his eyes. Oh great, Brandon thought, there's two of them. 

"Oh sure," He snorted, "And when you spilled your drink on yourself a couple of weeks ago it was nothing to do with the way Tess had to bend over your table to clean it." 

Ronnie was full-on laughing now, while Brandon gaped at Tom and made unconvincing protest noises. 

Tom shook his head and smirked, "When I took this job I never thought I'd be seeing The Killers every goddamn day, let alone helping one of them bone my colleague." 

Brandon, who had finally relaxed enough to take a sip of his no-longer-hot chocolate, swallowed hard and glanced at Ronnie. 

"So you recognised him," Ronnie nodded, noting Brandon's panicked eyes and willing him not to blow this out of proportion. Tom shrugged and nodded back. 

"No one who's not famous looks that good everyday. And you had to be getting those inexhaustible coffee funds from somewhere. I admit it took me a while to place where I knew you from," He said, eyeing Brandon sympathetically. 

"Does Tessa know who he-- OW," Ronnie cried, as Brandon's pointy toed boot met his shin for the second time that day, "I don't mean in a 'don't you know who I am' kinda way, I just think if you're gonna pursue any kind of relationship with this girl it might be useful to know!" 

Brandon pouted again, but he knew Ronnie was right. Tessa had never suggested she might have known who he was, and he was enjoying the anonymity of having never been approached by fans within the confines of the cafe. The one time a Killers' song had started over the speakers, he'd practically sprinted through the door.

Tom paused, "Yes," he started, eventually. Brandon's heart sank a little.

"But only because I told her. Don't get me wrong, she's familiar with your music, but I think she only would have recognised the eyeliner-wearing Brandon Flowers of 2004. Certainly not this Disney-Prince-come-to-life." 

Brandon's heart rate steadied again. 

Tom sighed and looked at his watch, "Listen. She gets off here in less than thirty minutes. She's free tonight. Please ask her out, I'm begging you." 

Brandon's heart rate sky rocketed again and he started to protest, but Tom raised a hand. 

"I can't live with myself giving Brandon Flowers' diabetes. There's so much sugar in those drinks. It'll literally be good for your health to just ask her out."


	4. Chapter 4

Tessa shoved her apron below the counter, fading in and out of whatever conversation Tom was having with her - or trying to have with her. She unleashed her hair from its ponytail and ran her hands through it in an attempt to bring some life back into it after the long shift. 

"Anyway, in conclusion that's the story of how I ended up in witness protection."

Tom's voice faded back into her consciousness and she nodded and hummed in agreement before she registered what he'd said. 

"Wait, what?" She frowned. Tom laughed and cupped her face in his hands, kissing her nose. 

"Oh honey," He said, "I'd be flatlining too if I were about to go hop on that rockstar dick." 

Tessa thumped his arm, "You have got to stop saying things like that! I'm stressed enough about going on a date with a cute guy without having his..." she gestured vaguely, "On my mind!" 

"It's telling that you totally bypassed the rockstar bit for the bit about his dick," Tom said, stroking his chin in mock thoughtfulness. 

Tessa groaned and went back to fixing her appearance in the reflection of the coffee machine. Brandon had finally asked her out. It wasn't like she hadn't been hoping this would happen, but she didn't expect him to appear by her side while she was on her break, looking like he was going to vomit, to ask if she was free right after she got off work today. Her instinct would have been to say no to any guy who looked so visibly uncomfortable, but a glance over his shoulder towards Ronnie and Tom had suggested Brandon's nerves were not entirely self-created. So she agreed. And Brandon's face lit up. And it was the cutest shit she'd ever seen. 

"Do you think Ronnie is giving him the sex talk?" Tom piped up again, dodging a paper cup that Tessa flung at him. Following his eye-line Tessa spotted Brandon and Ronnie leaning against a car and talking intensely. 

"Okay, okay!" He surrendered, "Just have fun. Don't mention that you lost your virginity to a Fall Out Boy song. And fucking call me when you're done, I get up at like 10am." 

He leapt through the back door when Tessa swung around again, intending to throw another cup. She sighed and tried to clear her mind. But he was cute, and the thought of waking up next to him was more than a little appealing. 

Tessa switched the sign on the door to 'closed' as she walked outside. Brandon and Ronnie's conversation stopped immediately, and Ronnie sighed and dropped something into Brandon's palm. 

"See ya around, Tessa!" He smiled as he walked past her and she waved a goodbye. 

She turned her attention back to Brandon, who was leaning on the car and swinging a set of keys round his finger. 

"All good?" She asked him, "Seemed like a pretty intense conversation happening out here."

Brandon shrugged, "He drove me here. I asked if we could borrow his car. He wasn't 100% on board with the idea." 

"Are you making him walk home on my account?" 

"No!" Brandon said quickly, "He's gonna stay with a friend of ours who lives nearby. He'll get it back tomorrow." 

Tessa narrowed her eyes at Brandon and he raised one eyebrow, the most playful thing she had ever seen him do. She was already enjoying this more relaxed version of him. 

"Why do we need a car?" She quizzed him. 

He giggled again, the most infuriatingly cute sound she had ever heard, and replied "You'll see." 

Brandon stepped to the passenger side of the truck and swung the door open for her. Tessa laughed under her breath and climbed inside. Literally climbed. She was way too short for the big-ass cars so many people seemed to drive in this city. 

"I thought I was going to have to get you a stepladder," Brandon grinned at her as he jumped into the driver seat with ease. Tessa stuck her tongue out at him, but relished in his changed demeanour now they were alone. He had always seemed sweet, but occasionally his nerves got the better of him. She had noticed that he didn't seem to enjoy being confined with groups of people, fidgeting and tapping his foot against the counter when there was a queue behind him as she took his order. He never held back his smile when he saw her, but he was visibly more relaxed when he had some time to offer some small talk about the decor or an event that was coming up in the city. 

As they pulled out of the parking lot and began to make their way down the highway, Tessa snuck a look at him. She had stared at him plenty in the shop, but he had never been this close before and it began to hit her just how physically perfect he was as he rested one hand on the wheel and rubbed his jaw with the other, before resting his elbow on the window ledge. Tom was right, he had gotten a haircut. She never thought she'd be jealous of a lock of hair that curled just below his ear. Slowly, the corners of his mouth turned up. 

"Enjoying the view?" He smirked. Tessa blushed at being caught staring and faced forward again. 

"I'm just checking that your driving is better than your parking," She shot back. 

His eyes whipped around to her, "My parking is just fine!" 

"You park like an asshole, and you know it." 

"It's a big car!" 

"So maybe you should get a smaller one. Or learn how to park!" 

Brandon shook his head and sighed, "Our first fight. And all because the quicker I park the quicker I get to see you." 

Tessa snorted, "It's like that is it? I can't win a fight with you because you'll turn on the charm?" 

"My charm is always there," Brandon raised an eyebrow at her, "You just need to pay more attention." 

"Oh I see," Tessa drew out the last word and nodded slowly, "You need one parking spot for your car and one for your ego. Yeah okay, I guess that makes sense." 

Brandon laughed out loud and hit his indicator, pulling the car onto a dirt road leading out of the city. 

"I can't believe I'm stuck with someone so mean for the rest of the evening," He pouted. 

Tessa looked out at the open desert they were heading into, "You're gonna murder me for insulting your parking?" 

Brandon shrugged and smiled at her in the mirror. 

"Thanks for agreeing to come out with me tonight," He said softly. Tessa's heart melted. 

"Thanks for asking."


	5. Chapter 5

"Ok, Flowers," Tessa said as she took a seat opposite him in the tiny diner he had brought her to in the middle of the desert, "What's the deal?" 

Brandon passed her a menu. He'd been thinking for a while about where he would take Tessa on a first date, if he ever got the courage to ask her, and now she was here he was a little nervous. She frowned slightly as she looked down the page. When she reached the bottom section, however, she let out a squeal of delight. 

He giggled as he watched her fist pump, "I know it isn't the same, but it's the closest I've found in this city." 

The menu offered a variety of English breakfasts, something Brandon had developed a taste for on tour and had struggled to find a good replication of in his home city. Most places had a variation of it, but they were always just a little off and he'd end up resorting to waffles instead. That was until a friend had recommended to him a tiny diner in the middle of the desert. When he'd heard Tessa mention how much she missed her home breakfast, it had clicked with him that he should bring her here.

"Ulster fry!" Tessa groaned, "Full breakfast with haggis! They've really done their homework. Can we just get all of them?" 

"How hungry are you?" 

Right on cue, Tessa's stomach grumbled and she blushed. Brandon laughed and ordered one of each of the four full breakfast options on the menu when the waitress approached them. He smiled a little as he watched Tessa sigh and lean her elbows on the table, looking out over the dimming light of the desert. She looked tired and prettier than he'd ever seen her. Her hair had a kink in it where it had been held in a ponytail for most of the day and her eyeliner was smudged slightly at its edges. As his eyes wandered further he noticed a small birthmark right by her collarbone and he couldn't stop himself from imagining getting the chance to kiss it. 

"Thank you, Brandon," Tessa's voice knocked him out of his trance with a start, "This is really thoughtful." 

He felt his cheeks redden a little and cleared his throat, "I thought it was a little hit or miss whether you'd enjoy it or find it too corny." 

"Oh it's so sentimental," She smiled back at him and his heart fluttered, "But in the best way possible. I didn't realise I'd complained to you quite so much about how so many of your 'English breakfast's here have only three components." 

"You didn't, but the one time you did you seemed real mad about it," He teased, "I didn't know an absence of fried bread could be such a problem." 

"But it's so essential, why are you even bothering to have a fried breakf--"

She cut off when she spotted his smirk and raised eyebrow. 

"Ok. Point taken," She conceded, "I got a little more mad than necessary."

\--

Three hours had passed as they ate the volume of food placed in front of them. Once Brandon had reassured the questioning waitress there were no other people joining their party, it was all for them, Tessa had delved in like she hadn't eaten in days. She kind of hadn't, she explained, due to the coffee shop being pretty busy thanks to a rockabilly convention happening in the city. They had talked back and forth easily, and Brandon felt his nerves fade away as the conversation flowed without effort. 

When her eyes started to drift closed as she leaned back in her chair, Brandon moved to pay the bill. 

"I've got half," Tessa said as he dropped some notes on the table. 

"No way," He shook his head. She continued to protest until the waitress scooped up the money. 

"Fine," She sighed, "But I get to buy dessert." 

"You could eat dessert after that?" Brandon snorted.

Tessa thought for a moment, "Ok, no. But I'm taking you for dessert sometime." 

Brandon grinned to himself at the thought of another date as they made their way back to Ronnie's car. After opening the passenger door he bent down with his hands interlocked, as if to give her a step up into the car. She pushed his shoulder and rolled her eyes as she took a step up. Instead of taking her seat, she held onto the roof of the car with one hand and rested the other against his cheek. Before he had processed what was happening, she leant down and pressed her lips to his. It was a contact that only lasted seconds but Brandon felt as if his heart left his body as she pulled her lips away, leaving him gaping in their absence. 

"Will you stop staring my lips now?" She said softly, and he could hear the smile in her voice.

"Unlikely," He smiled back, opening his eyes and jogging to his side of the car.

As Brandon pulled them back onto the dirt road Tessa turned in her seat to face him. 

"So this solo record," She started, "You'll start touring soon?" 

Brandon nodded, "The promotional tour starts in a couple of days. I'm taking my car up to San Francisco on Friday for a listening party and a couple of small shows and interviews, things like that. It's only a few days, then the real thing starts at the end of the month."

"You know planes have been invented right?"

"I do know that," He giggled, feeling himself blush, "I'm not a huge fan of flying." 

"Isn't that... kind of a big part of your job?" 

"Yeah. But I avoid it where possible. It's usually not that big a deal, Ronnie indulges me when we tour Killers records. The time passes pretty quick." 

"But you're going on your own this time?" 

He could feel her curious eyes on him and glanced round to smile at her. They were approaching the city, and the way the lights were hitting her face nearly made him miss his turning. 

"My solo band live all over the country," He shrugged, "So they're flying in to meet me there." 

"It's way too soon to ask if you want company, right?" Tessa said quietly. 

Brandon cocked his head at her, "You'd be willing to spend like ten hours in a car with me? Twice?" 

He glanced over to see her blushing.

"Ok that was a dumb idea. I just have those days off work and--"

"If you wanna come with me," He interrupted, "I'd love that. I have spent more than two months staring at you from across a room so I feel ready to speed things up a bit." 

"Yeah you're pretty creepy," She nodded, but laughed and tapped his arm with her hand when he pouted, "I'm kidding. Let's speed things up." 

His heart fluttered as Tessa touched him, and he couldn't stop himself from smiling like an idiot.

"Oh my god," She groaned, "You are so unbearably cute."


	6. Chapter 6

"Ta da!" Tessa grinned and held out two containers, each with a bright pink plastic spoon sticking out of their lid. 

"Ice cream?" Brandon's head cocked to the side and Tessa tried not to think about how much he looked like a puppy when he did that.

"Unfortunately not," She said sombrely, "You said you preferred custard so, here I am, lowering my standards." 

She giggled as Brandon shook his head, then squinted at the writing on the containers, "Uh 'western' or 'chocolate crisp'? I kinda don't know what 'western' is." 

"Fudge and pecans. And you're welcome, frozen custard is better than ice cream." Brandon shrugged, taking the pot that read 'western' from her. 

"You're full of shit," Tessa replied and chucked her bag into the back seat of Brandon's car. It was equally as stupidly huge as Ronnie's but painted a burnt orange instead of black. 

She stood up on her toes and pecked her lips against Brandon's, "Hi."

"Hey," He giggled, and they leant against the hood to eat the frozen treats, her repayment for the breakfast-dinner they had shared. 

As soon as she had left Brandon after their first date, Tessa had finally considered the implications of agreeing to - no, asking to - join Brandon for his trip. Unable to sleep thanks to the million questions spinning through her mind, she had called him at 3am with the intention to cancel. From the moment he picked up the phone with a sleepy-sounding "Miss me already?", however, she changed her mind. 

They had talked about her concerns and Brandon had reassured her that his suite had two rooms so there would be no weirdness about sleeping arrangements. He planned to stop at a motel for a power nap on the way there and back, but that wouldn't be more than a few hours. And he would welcome her presence at some of the events, but she was free to choose to go sightseeing instead. He had been so sweet and patient, and she had to stop her tired and overdramatic mind from declaring that she loved him. 

When they finished their frozen custard (it was pretty fucking good, she had to admit, but not out loud), they hopped into the car and set off. 

"You have control of the music," Brandon smiled, passing her the aux cord. 

She sighed. Tom had been giddy all morning about her taking this trip, and his main concern had been the music. The words "under no circumstances can you play any emo" were ringing in her ears. She smirked and hit the first song on her recently played list, feigning innocence when Brandon shook his head at the recognisable intro to When You Were Young.

"No," He said, simply. 

"You're right, this is shit," She said with a straight face, "Let me put on some real music instead." 

Brandon clutched his chest in mock horror as his own voice was replaced by the crashing guitars of a Fall Out Boy song. 

"I will turn this car around!" 

Losing her ability to keep a straight face, Tessa laughed and hit shuffle on a playlist, relaxing as the sound of Mike Scott's voice filled the car. Brandon was smiling, she noted out of the corner of her eye. 

"Did Tom supervise the making of this playlist?" 

She stared at him. Tom had indeed insisted on supervising, giving her the high compliment that her music taste was "not actually that terrible". 

"He's a fan," Brandon shrugged when he spotted her questioning gaze, "Plus I get the impression he's invested in this just as much as we are." 

She laughed, "Yeah. He did. I'm not allowed to play emo but I am allowed to play anything with a synth." 

Brandon nodded and smiled, "But this is your music, right? I wanna hear what you actually listen to." 

"It is. Am I passing the test so far?" 

Brandon giggled, "No test, I promise. But yes. I'm pretty new to The Waterboys but I'm happy to be hearing more of them. Especially from an actual Scot!" 

"This is one of my favourites," Tessa nodded, drumming her fingers on her bare thigh in time with the song.

She grinned out the window when she caught Brandon glance at her legs and clear his throat. 

"So why Vegas?" He asked eventually, "Why move here from the UK?"

They hadn't much gotten into the personal questions on their first date, but she figured all this would come up in the duration of the trip. 

"Originally I moved to New York," She said carefully, "I moved out here later when I made contact with some friends from university who live here. But I left the UK after a pretty shitty break up." 

Brandon glanced at her again, "Oh, I'm sorry. Was it a long relationship?" 

"It's fine now," She reassured him, "Five years." 

"Damn," Brandon shook his head, "That's tough. And you wanted a fresh start?"

"Clean break," She agreed, "It didn't help that I lived in his apartment and worked at a job he got for me. London didn't seem so friendly anymore." 

Brandon was quiet as he listened, occasionally glancing over to her with concerned eyes. She appreciated it, especially when she told him about the job and living situation. She felt kind of pathetic having relied on someone so much that her entire life had fallen apart when they let her down. 

"Uh, there's an off-chance that you might have actually met him," She laughed awkwardly, "He's a photographer. Did some work with NME and a few other publications in London. I'm pretty sure I remember him talking about working with The Killers. Jack O'Reilly."

Brandon frowned and paused for a moment, "Super blue eyes. Kinda looks like a Lord of the Rings elf."

"That's him. That must have been, what, 2008? I had just moved in with him. He was excited about working with you guys. He talked about your feather jacket for weeks." 

Brandon nodded, his lips in a thin line. He remembered Jack. The photos had come out great, and they had had a good time working with him, but...

"He had another girl at the shoot?" Tessa interrupted his train of thought when she noticed the grimace on his face. Brandon glanced at her again cautiously and nodded. 

"Yeah I know," She laughed a little, "He did that. 2008 was probably... Nina." 

She smiled at Brandon's sympathetic face, knowing he was wondering how often it happened. But she was done talking about her side for now, and she'd had enough sympathy about all that to last a lifetime.

"Ok your turn," She shook her head, clearing her mind, "How is someone that looks the way you do single?" 

Brandon blushed, "I'm not that good looking. It's easy when you have a team of people making you look good." 

"Do you ever stop lying?" Tessa teased and reached over to pinch his cheek. He giggled. 

"It's weird trying to date in this world," He gestured vaguely, "You never really know what people want from you. It can be tough to figure out what is genuine." 

Tessa looked at him thoughtfully, "And yet you've known me for two days and are letting me travel across the country with you."

Brandon smirked, "You asked so nicely." 

"Shut up," She blushed.

Brandon reached over and took her hand, resting them on the centre console and stroking her thumb with his. 

"It was cute," He said softly, "And I trust you." 

For the millionth time since Brandon had walked into her coffee shop, Tessa's heart fluttered. She wondered if that was ever going to go away. 

"Ok so," She started, mainly to force herself to stop staring at Brandon's jaw before she started drooling, "What the fuck is a promotional tour?"

Brandon laughed and stroked his jaw thoughtfully. Well that's not helpful, she frowned.

"It starts with a listening party, that's tomorrow night. Basically a room of people who have some tie to the industry listen to the record then come out and tell me how good it is. They aren't necessarily saying what they really think. Then the next two nights are small shows, mostly for corporates and critics," He explained, "And some initial interviews scattered in there somewhere." 

Tessa nodded thoughtfully, "Do you still get nervous?"

Brandon looked surprised at her question but shook his head after a couple of seconds.

"Well, yeah, actually," He corrected himself with a chuckle, "But this is kinda all irrelevant. I want them to like it, sure, but the real tour is what actually matters to me now. I guess that's a luxury of not having to rely on these people to publicise my name. It's more of a chore than anything else." 

Tessa watched his face as he ran her through these processes. He looked tired just talking about the people he was facing over the next few days. She wondered if it would be a little different if he'd had his bandmates by his side. 

"I'll come with you," She said quietly, "But only if that's ok. Only if you want me there."

Brandon smiled at her and squeezed her hand.

"I definitely do. It would be really nice to have someone keeping my feet on the ground. These things can make a person narcissistic." 

Tessa giggled, pleased that he seemed genuinely relieved at her suggestion she accompany him. 

"Oh sure, Flowers," She wiggled round in her seat to stare out the window again, "I can just remind you of the time you created a coffee tsunami when you broke our sugar dispenser."

Brandon pouted but his eyes were smiling, "That was an accident! And it went more over me than anything else!" 

"I know. But no matter how great this record is," She smirked, "You'll always be the guy who doesn't know how to use a sugar dispenser."


	7. Chapter 7

Brandon watched from the gloomy reception as Tessa stretched out her shoulders beside the car. He smiled and drummed his fingers against the desk as the kid behind it checked the rooms available.

"Nope, sorry buddy. We only have a few rooms left. Only one double. Will that do?" 

Brandon nodded and passed over some cash. Despite the fact that they would be sleeping there for a few hours at most, he hadn't wanted to put any pressure on Tessa by suggesting they share a bed, so he had requested two single beds. But in this kind of motel he knew that had been a long shot. The alternative had been to get two separate rooms but he didn't want her to feel like she had to pay for her own room. 

With their room key now in hand, he jogged through the light rain beginning to come down in the evening air. His doctor had suggested avoiding long trips for the benefit of his shoulder and as much as he wanted to get the journey over and done with, his compromise had been to agree to breaks like this. 

Tessa looked at him sheepishly as he yawned and led the way to their room.

"I'm so sorry," She groaned, leaning beside the door as he unlocked it.

Brandon pouted, "I can't believe you find me so boring."

Unexpectedly, Tessa wrapped her arms around his waist as she followed him into the room. He smiled, dropping his bag on the floor and tangling his fingers with hers where they were placed against his stomach. 

"That was a dick move," She mumbled against his back, "I am sorry." 

"Tessa," He giggled, loosening her grip on him until he could turn himself around in her embrace, "You were only asleep for 20 minutes." 

Tessa looked up at him with her jaw dropped, "Oh, you asshole!" 

Brandon laughed and kissed her forehead. She had been so disoriented and apologetic when he nudged her awake in the car, clearly thinking she had been asleep for hours and left him to drive in silence. He'd decided to let her think that, but he couldn't keep it up when she seemed to feel so bad about it. 

Sticking her tongue out at him, Tessa rounded the bed and bent down to unlace her boots. Brandon blushed and turned away, rummaging in his bag for a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. 

"Uh, do you mind?" He asked her, holding up the clothes. 

"I'm not promising not to peek," She smirked back at him as she sat down on the bed and smoothed her skirt over her legs. 

Brandon giggled and pulled his shirt over his head. Still feeling mischievous, he slipped his boots and jeans off as well, and left his change of clothes lying on the bed before turning round to look at her.

"Seems like more than a peek," He grinned, hand on hip as he watched her eyes run up his body.

Tessa rolled her eyes, "Tease."

With a thrill running through him from the way she had looked at him, he slid into his other clothes and flopped back on the bed. He looked up at her as her head lolled to one side, almost asleep already. He was relieved that she hadn't seemed to bat an eyelid at the thought of sharing with him.

"Tess," He said softly, placing a hand on her thigh and rocking her slightly, "You should put on something warmer. This place doesn't have heating and it'll just get colder the later we stay." 

He smiled as she grumbled at him and batted his hand away. Reaching into his own bag, he located a red sweater and passed it to her. 

"Here. You don't even have to get out of bed."

Tessa sighed, opening one eye to look at the sweater he had dropped in her lap.

"You just want me to wear your clothes."

He raised an eyebrow and shrugged as she swung her legs over the side of the bed so she was facing away from him. His eyes stayed on her as she slipped her t shirt over her head, his breath hitching a little as he watched her hair drop back over her now bare shoulders. When she unclipped her bra and chucked it at her bag, however, he audibly cleared his throat. Hearing her stifle a laugh as she pulled his sweater over her head, he began to blush. 

"I think we're even on the staring," She winked at him over her shoulder as she stood up and slid her skirt off, bending over her bag to pull out a pair of shorts which she hopped into before turning back round to face him. 

"You're so pretty," He smiled. He knew she knew he'd kept staring for the couple of seconds she was in her underwear but she didn't look like she cared. It reassured him to see that she had looked at him with as much want as he normally felt in his own gaze when he looked at her.

Tessa rolled her eyes and slid under the covers. 

"You're so cheesy," She kissed his nose, "But you're kinda 'so pretty' too." 

Brandon yawned happily and joined her under the covers, sticking to his side of the bed. He fumbled with his phone as he set an alarm for four hours later and placed it on the table beside them. Shutting off the tiny light, he turned his body to face her. As his eyes adjusted in the light he saw her looking right back at him. She smiled slightly and leaned forward, pressing their lips together. He couldn't resist sliding his body closer to hers and placing a hand on her ribs, lightly running his fingers over her skin where the sweater had ridden up. Tessa's hands were softly running through his hair as she slipped her tongue into his mouth and he groaned slightly. 

He rolled over further so his body was partially resting on top of hers. Tessa seemed to welcome the contact as he felt her smile against his mouth. She began to slowly run her fingertips over his chest as their mouths worked together. Brandon's breath caught when she moved the leg he had been resting against and brushed against his crotch just enough to send sparks through him. 

"You need to sleep," She smiled, breaking their kiss and pressing her forehead to his. Brandon sighed and rubbed his nose against hers. 

"Yeah." 

He kissed her softly, then turned over on his other side, not confident enough that he would be able to get any sleep if Tessa was pressed against his front. He felt the bed move slightly and Tessa's hand landed on his chest and grasped his t shirt lightly. He felt her face touch his back, where she planted a kiss between his shoulder blades and sighed deeply as she curled up against him. 

"Fair warning, I'm grumpy after a nap," She said, slightly muffled by his back. 

Brandon ran his fingers over her forearm, "I'll cheer you up." 

Tessa groaned and squeezed him slightly tighter and he stifled another laugh. It was reassuring to know he had the same effect on her as she did on him. 

"You're only with me for my body," He joked quietly, feeling her body shake with a giggle.

"Damn right."


	8. Chapter 8

They had arrived at the hotel in San Francisco at around midnight, and taken up their separate rooms in Brandon's suite. Tessa had emerged from her room in the morning to find him rifling through an array of trunks in the living room, grumbling about the state of how they were packed. She'd bitten her lip at the sight of him wandering around in only his unbuttoned jeans. Leaning against the door frame, she bunched up the sleeves of his sweater that she hadn't taken off since the motel. He started slightly when she mumbled "mornin'" but quickly broke into a smile. Kissing her lightly, he explained that the trunks had been delivered in the morning and contained his clothes for the events over the next few days, but that his shoes didn't seem to be there. 

After checking the trunks one more time, and draping various patterned shirts and about eight pairs of the same black jeans around the room, Brandon gave in to Tessa's suggestion they go out for breakfast. He had called the delivery company and his manager on the way to the cafe and seemed to visibly relax when they managed to figure out that one of the trunks had been left in the van accidentally, but would be delivered in the afternoon. 

They had spent the day sightseeing, checking out the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman's Wharf. Brandon had tentatively picked at the food they shared for lunch, his energy visibly changing through the day as they got closer to what would mark the start of The Desired Effect. 

"Are you sure you're ok with this?" Brandon's voice called from outside her door, and Tessa could hear him nervously tapping his foot on the skirting board. 

"Yeah!" She huffed as she pulled a pair of fishnet stockings on and examined herself in the mirror. Brandon had assured her it was smart but not super formal, so she'd brought a light blue satin wraparound miniskirt and a black lace camisole. Satisfied with those elements, she pulled on some silver glitter lace up boots and nodded at her reflection, twisting her hair around her fingers as she opened the door. 

Brandon was pacing the living room, shaking his hand by his side with his lips slightly pursed. She laughed out loud as she took him in - his super polished appearance slightly lessened by the cactus patterned socks he was wearing. 

"You look so great!" He grinned, closing the gap between them and holding her hands away from her sides as he looked at her outfit. 

"Ok," Tessa snorted but smiled, "You don't need to sound so surprised."

Brandon blushed, "Sorry, you always look great. But this is my first time seeing you in anything... fancy. Your shoes!"

He let go of her hand to twirl a wavy strand of her hair between his fingers. He had been nervously checking with her that she was happy to attend the listening party all day and, while she appreciated the concern, he had been making her more and more nervous too. 

"Yes, my shoes are awesome," She laughed, "But, more importantly, what about your shoes?" 

Brandon groaned, "They should be here soon. They should have been here an hour ago." 

"I would support you going out there rocking some cactus socks." 

"That's not the aesthetic I'm going for," He laughed quietly, looking down and wiggling his toes. 

She looked at him carefully, "What's up, buttercup?" 

Brandon raised an eyebrow and snorted, "Yeah and I'm the cheesy one. It's irritating. I know they are just shoes and it's not that big a deal. It's just..."

Tessa ran her hands up and down his arms in encouragement and saw him relax a little. She had noticed how Brandon's shoulders subconsciously rose the more and more nervous he got. When she spotted it happening, she did her best to relax him by running her hand across his upper back or tapping on his shoulder. He hadn't indicated that he noticed her intentions, but his shoulders consistently dropped when she did it.

"It's just that a lot of work has gone into this. Me and everyone else involved. I don't wanna seem like I'm half-assing this just because it's not... because it's not The Killers. So I put thought into what I should wear. The shoes shouldn't be a problem that needs to be considered at this stage, after all that planning..."

"Brandon, you care," Tessa interrupted his nervous rambling, "But things inevitably won't all go to plan. You need to just try to relax. More stuff is going to go right than wrong, because of all the work you've put in so far." 

She stepped closer to him and placed a soft kiss against his jaw, "Besides, they'll be here soon." 

Brandon raised his eyebrows and glanced down between their barely-touching bodies, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"What should we do while we wait?" 

Tessa blushed and laughed, staring at his necklace as she played with the buttons on his shirt. He lifted her chin up with his forefinger and pressed their lips together. Tessa responded by winding her arms round his neck. Brandon deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue into her mouth and placing his hands on her ribs. He pushed her backwards slightly until her back touched the wall, and closed any gap between their bodies, sending a thrill through Tessa. Her hands dropped to his hips and she pulled him against her. 

Brandon moaned softly as their hips made contact, and Tessa was about to rock his hips against her again when there was a sharp knock at the door. Breaking their kiss, Brandon giggled and opened his eyes. 

"Makes sense."

Tessa nodded and tried to steady her breathing, "I told you you should have just worn the socks."

\--

It was just after 10pm when an usher announced that the room set up for the actual listening component of the event was open. Guests began to spill into the darkened room, where Tessa could see little booths set up with comfy chairs, headphones and a copy of the vinyl sleeve of the album. The British music journalists who she had been talking with began to politely excuse themselves to join the main event. Spotting Brandon, she walked up behind him and ran her hand over his back. He turned around and flashed a winning smile but relaxed with a sigh when he realised it was her. 

"I've missed you," He groaned. 

Tessa laughed out loud, "I've been no more than ten feet away from you for the past 2 hours."

"Too far," Brandon shook his head, wrapping her in a bear hug and rocking her side to side as she giggled against his chest. 

She pushed him away lightly and glanced around the room. A few people were still making their way through the doors, their eyes drifting curiously towards her and Brandon. She didn't know why she felt nervous to be affectionate with him in this setting, but she did. 

Brandon seemed to notice and slid his hand down her arm, intertwining their fingers and hiding them slightly behind their backs.

"I understand that this is a lot," He murmured, "I hope nobody has been weird about you being here?"

Tessa shook her head, "Just curious about how we know each other. I didn't really know how to answer that." 

"Tell them you're my date," Brandon smiled but became serious again, "If you want to. Or, if you'd prefer, tell them you're my personal barista." 

He laughed as Tessa bumped her hip against his and rolled her eyes. 

"What? They already think I'm some kind of diva. Fits the brand. Plus, you make good coffee." 

"Tom makes good coffee," She laughed, "And you're forgetting I had to listen to you whine about how creased your Yves Saint Laurent was as you unpacked it from the personal courier service that dropped it directly to the door of your hotel suite. Honey, they don't just think you're a diva."

Brandon pouted but his eyes were sparkling. They stood in silence as the final few people disappeared into the room. Brandon sighed deeply again and ran a hand through his hair. 

"Nearly there," Tessa smiled up at him and he nodded.

"Yeah. It's amazing how many of these people can gush about how big a fan they are and how excited they are for the record. They're really counting on me not pulling out my phone and showing them the article they wrote a few months back about how I'm a washed up, band-less pretty boy who has little more than faux earnestness to offer."

"Well, you are a very pretty boy," Tessa nodded, grinning when he dug his elbow into her side, "Sounds like you have that quote memorised?"

"It sticks with you," He smiled thinly and turned around to face her. 

"Why are you still here?" He smirked as panic rose in her chest, "Don't you wanna hear the record?" 

She let out a loud, relieved sigh, "Oh my god. Yeah I wanna hear it but you looked like you needed company!" 

Brandon pulled her through another door and began to stride down a short corridor, keeping a tight grip on her hand.

"I'll sit with you while you listen."

"Oh that won't be uncomfortable for either of us," Tessa said sarcastically, screwing up her nose, "Sounds like a great idea."

Brandon giggled and pushed open a second door, ushering her inside. It brought them into the listening room but led into an empty booth that was fairly hidden at the back.

"So you're just gonna... Listen to your own album and judge my reactions?" Tessa whispered. 

Brandon laughed quietly, "No. You're gonna listen to my album and I'm gonna sit right here," He set a second chair beside hers, "And take a 39-40 minute nap. Or rest my eyes until they find me, at least." 

Tessa nodded and placed her headphones on, watching as Brandon stretched his long legs onto the wall of the booth and crossed them at the ankles. From the corner of her eye she could see him crack his jaw and neck and noted how he seemed to be relishing the freedom from the forced smiling he had been doing all evening. She hit play on the album and smiled to herself as his voice filled her ears. 

After a few seconds, his head dropped lightly onto her shoulder and he wrapped his arms around himself. Before she'd even reached the chorus his breathing had slowed right down and he was nuzzling into her neck. She shifted slightly in her seat and freed the arm he was leaning on, careful not to disturb him. As she began to run her fingers lightly through his hair he wiggled even closer against her.

Tom would lose his shit if he saw this.


	9. Chapter 9

It was 3am before the last of the guests left the building, considerably more drunk than they had been when they arrived. 

"Even Rolling Stone seemed to not hate it," Brandon giggled, wrapping his arms around Tessa and smoothing his hands over her hair, "Although what they say to my face isn't always the same as what they write on paper."

"The only slightly negative thing I heard all night was from them," Tessa looked up at him, "And it was only confusion over the 'velvet goldmine' lyric."

Brandon frowned. His lyrics had always been perfectly clear to him but it wouldn't be the first time a reviewer singled them out as too garbled or overthought.

"Hey," Tessa poked his face lightly, "Come back. It's a Bowie reference, right? If they wanna know, they'll figure it out. If they don't, they won't, and you'll both move on. Fuck them either way."

Brandon giggled.

"You hungry?"

One look in Tessa's eyes answered his question.

"These people are crazy," She muttered, looking around the room at the vast array of empty plates, "We never stood a chance."

"It's a battlefield," Brandon agreed, "I'm pretty sure some of them just come for the free food. But there's a really good Mexican place not too far away, if you're up for it?"

Before he'd even finished his sentence Tessa had nearly pulled him through the door.

\--

"This is more than two human people could ever eat," Brandon frowned at the chaos on the living room floor of their suite.

"You're doomed to fail with that attitude," Tessa shrugged at him as she reemerged from her room wearing his sweater in place of the camisole. She was still wearing her skirt and fishnets but with long socks bunched up at her ankles instead of the glittery boots. He cleared his throat as he dragged his eyes away from her, knowing he had been staring for too long. She was cute when she was sleepy. And she looked annoyingly better in the sweater than he did.

Brandon dipped into his room as she sat on the floor to open the containers of Mexican food they had smuggled back into the hotel with them. He slipped off his shirt and pulled a t-shirt on, before unbuttoning his skinny jeans and kicking off his boots.

"I'm too hungry to waste time finding sweatpants," He shrugged as Tessa raised an eyebrow at his unbuttoned jeans when he walked back into the room, "This is the next best option."

Tessa nodded her approval and he sat on the floor beside her where they tucked into the food.

\--

"See?" Tessa muttered without raising her head from where it was leaning against the couch, watching him as he popped the final piece of a taquito into his mouth, "Anything is possible with the right attitude."

Brandon giggled and held up his hands, "Okay okay, so we were pretty hungry."

He surveyed the empty containers on the floor. It had taken them all of 30 minutes to devour every bite.

"You needed to eat," She said, "You barely touched any of the food we got all day."

"I lose my appetite when I'm on edge," Brandon admitted, "I'm sorry if I was a nightmare today."

Tessa span around on her butt and stretched her legs out so her feet were resting on the couch beside his head and her back was on the floor.

"You weren't a nightmare," She smiled, "Any more than usual."

He flicked her leg with his finger but smiled back at her.

"I get why it makes you stressed," Tessa continued, sitting up and crossing her legs in front of her, "That was... full on."

"I know right? Maybe next time I should just wear a sandwich board that says 'No The Killers haven't broken up, yes I worked with Ariel Rechtshaid, no we didn't steal that Bronski Beat sample, yes that was Neil Tennant...'"

He grinned at Tessa as she laughed and pushed her long hair to one side, exposing the part of her neck that was closest to him as she rested her head against her hand. Her eyes fluttered closed and her laugh faded to a small, contented smile. A wave of gratitude and amazement that she was here washed over him, and soon his eyes had drifted down to where his sweater was hanging slightly off her neck. His mind wandered to the birthmark he had spotted and dreamt of kissing the first night they hung out. Leaning in, he placed a soft kiss against her jaw, enjoying the pleasant shiver that ran through her body. He trailed his lips slowly from the back of her ear down her neck, switching from light pecks to open mouthed kisses as he descended.

"Thank you for coming with me tonight," He mumbled against her skin.

"Suggestive."

He giggled and went back to kissing her neck until he was delicately pulling the skin between his teeth. Tessa gasped his name.

"Sorry," He smirked, "Should I do that somewhere less obvious?"

He pulled the sweater slightly further off her shoulder and dropped his lips to just above her collarbone. Locating the birthmark, he smiled to himself before beginning gently suck the skin beside it.

"Brandon..." Tessa said again, her voice a little strained this time.

He lifted his head and was about to apologise when her hands landed on his shoulders and pushed him back until he was leaning against the couch again. She swung her leg over him so she was straddling his thighs.

"That's more comfortable," She blushed.

Brandon returned his lips to the same spot, kissing and sucking more harshly in a line across her shoulder. His hands brushed up her thighs, enjoying the sensation of the fishnet pattern against his fingertips. The couch behind his head dipped slightly as Tessa clenched her fist against it when he reached her upper thighs. She let out a soft whimper beside his ear as he brought his hands further back.

A knock on the door interrupted him before he was able to suggest Tessa take her (technically, his) sweater off. 

Brandon looked at the clock and frowned, "It's nearly 4am. Maybe they'll go away?"

As if to prove otherwise, the same beat was knocked against the door for a second time. Tessa raised her eyebrows and sighed, and he could see the same frustration on her face that he was feeling. As she stood up, she reached her hands out to pull him off the floor.

"Uhh..." Tessa blushed and chuckled, pointing at the slight bulge that had started to form in his still unbuttoned pants.

Brandon sighed and did his best to readjust himself before fastening the buttons again. Tessa had pulled her hair back around to cover her neck, which was slightly reddened along the line his lips had travelled. She rolled her eyes but smiled when she spotted him smirking at the spot on her shoulder now hidden by the sweater, where he thought he had probably left a hickey. Dropping onto the couch, she turned on the TV as Brandon answered the door.

"EYYYYYY!" Ronnie cheered, too loudly for the time of night.

"Ron?" Brandon frowned.

Ronnie wandered through the door with a waft of alcohol. 

"HI TESSA!"

Tessa laughed and got off the couch as Ronnie swung his arms around her and lifted her off the ground. He stumbled backwards a little bit before putting her down again.

"I'm so happy you kids got it together!" He sighed dramatically.

"Ronnie, dude," Brandon tried to rebuke him but couldn't hold back a giggle, "You need to turn down the volume. It's 4am."

"It's 4am?! In the morning?!"

"Yes. It is 4am in the morning."

"Why are you two still up at 4--" Ronnie's confused face broke into a knowing smile and he wiggled his eyebrows, "Ohhh! Okay! Get it. Don't mind me, I'm just gonna die on your living room floor."

Unceremoniously, Ronnie dropped onto the carpet. Tessa caught Brandon's eye and giggled, then motioned her head towards her room. He nodded in agreement and she slipped through the door as Brandon crouched beside Ronnie.

"Whatcha doing here, Ron?"

"I missed you soooooooo much," Ronnie cooed, making kissy noises.

Brandon giggled, "I missed you too. Did you fly here, drunk, to tell me that?"

Ronnie sat up and shook his head, "No. I flew here to surprise you at your show tomorrow. But I met up with Amanda and we had some fun," More eyebrow wiggling, "And some drinks. And now I'm here."

"Why didn't you stay with Amanda?"

"Not that type of relationship, my dude. I tried to get a hotel room but I forgot how to use this," He held out his credit card, "And apparently it's kinda important. So I called Jeremy and he said you were here."

Brandon nodded, glancing at Tessa as she reemerged with her bag, which she slid through the open door of his room.

"Ok buddy," Brandon sighed, "You gotta sleep. We have a spare room."

Ronnie's eyes got teary as Brandon gently peeled him off the floor and supported him through the door into Tessa's room.

"You guys," Ronnie gushed, "So nice. You're good people. And I'm so tired. If ya wanna get back to bangin' I'll be too asleep to notice."

"We appreciate it, Ronnie," Tessa laughed as Brandon stumbled forward and half dropped the drunk drummer onto the bed, "That's not weird at all."

"It's only weird if we let it be," Ronnie slurred, raising his hand to give her a thumbs up as Brandon took off his boots.

Brandon shook his head and giggled, before tucking him in and nudging Tessa out of the room.

"Goodnight, Ronald."

"Use protection!"

"Thank you, Ronald."


	10. Chapter 10

Things had gotten pretty heated again in Brandon's room as soon as the door had shut behind them. Likewise, the morning after saw soft kisses quickly escalate to Brandon's body resting between Tessa's legs as they explored each other's mouths with increasing urgency. Every move of his body against hers set Tessa on fire, and the only thing holding the two of them back was the snoring drummer next door.

Brandon dropped his face against Tessa's neck to muffle a laugh at a particularly loud snore from the room next door. Tessa rubbed a hand across her eyes and sighed. She suddenly regretted not making the most of the privacy they had in the motel.

"I'm gonna kill him," Brandon groaned with equal frustration.

Admitting defeat, they moved into the small kitchen to get ready for the day ahead. Brandon didn't bother to add any clothes to the briefs he had slept in, after the initial uncertainty and formality of the motel. Tessa was doing everything in her power not to look down for too long and lose her chill - sure, Ronnie had interrupted them, but he didn't deserve to wake up to that happening in the kitchen while he tried to get a cup of coffee.

Tessa opened a few drawers until she found the cutlery, pulling out a spoon and holding it under the cold running water. She could feel Brandon watching her as she dried the spoon and pulled the collar of her shirt to one side. Raising an eyebrow at him, she set the spoon firmly against the hickey he had left there the night before.

"Oh I know that trick," A raspy voice piped up from the doorway, "Hickey cure. Nice."

Brandon blushed but smirked as he glanced from Ronnie back to Tessa. There wasn't an ounce of regret on his face. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"What volume do you want us to talk at?" Tessa teased Ronnie.

"Uh not at all?"

Brandon filled a glass of water and slid it across the table, where Ronnie downed it immediately. Tessa located a packet of aspirin and dropped it into his open palm.

"You two are gonna make great parents," Ronnie grunted.

"It took me months to get past staring at her from across the room, Ron," Brandon giggled, "Pump the breaks."

"If this fine woman puts up with your snoring, she's a keeper."

"The only one who snores on that bus is you, Ronald."

"Brandon, the first time I have ever considered cold-blooded murder was thanks to your dying whale noises."

"I do not sn--"

"Fun as this conversation is," Tessa piped up, "You have an interview in thirty minutes."

Brandon glanced at the clock and swore, grabbing a yoghurt from the fridge and downing the cup of coffee in front of him. Returning to the makeshift wardrobe that was the living room, he selected a brown shirt and a new pair of black jeans and disappeared back into the bedroom, where the sound of the shower turning on radiated shortly afterwards.

"So Tessa," Ronnie started, looking a little more alive as the aspirin started to kick in, "Will you do me the honor of dining with me at the charming little IHOP around the corner?"

She laughed, "You sure you can handle the sunlight?" 

"Absolutely not, but I'd risk my life for pancakes," He smiled, "Is he in interviews all day?"

Tessa nodded. Brandon seemed a little more relaxed with the first hurdle out of the way, not counting his frustration at the interruption the night before. He seemed way more comfortable with the prospect of an actual gig tonight instead of a networking event. Feeling like the interviews was something she really couldn't help with, she had googled ideas of how to spend her day in the city when she had woken up before him.

"I think there's a local rugby match on today," She said, scraping her hair into a haphazard bun, "I might check that out."

"Ah yes, a little birdie told me you were a rugby fan."

Tessa frowned. She had never discussed sport with Brandon

"Not that little birdie," Ronnie read her mind and waved his phone beside him, "Thomas."

"You and Tom... text?" Tessa snorted.

"Hell yeah! We got you two fucking taking road trips together in the space of one evening when neither of you could manage to even talk to each other for months! A bond has been formed."

Tessa shook her head, "What is that chat even like?"

"Well, I texted him this morning to ask what you were into," He shrugged when she raised her eyebrows, "I figured you might want some company today."

Tessa couldn't hold back a smile. That was sweet.

"And he gave me the list: rugby, breakfast food, Italy and kick-boxing," Ronnie continued, "Then he asked me if you two had boned yet, so if I could get some info on that that would be great."

"They could use your snoring to promote abstinence," Brandon muttered as he reappeared.

\--

"So it's 7 points for a try?"

"No. It's 5 points for a try, then 2 if they convert it."

Ronnie furrowed his eyebrows as they made their way through the corridors of the venue Brandon was performing at tonight.

"If they kick it over the posts," Tessa explained.

"Oh! Gotcha!" Ronnie nodded.

She had had fun with Ronnie today. The game had been very poorly attended which had allowed her to explain the sport to Ronnie with no fear of interrupting anyone with her kind of physical demonstrations. As they had left the stadium, Ronnie had purchased his own rugby ball (mostly to try to spin it on his fingers).

Some fans of the band had nervously approached them as they made their way through the city. Ronnie had politely answered their questions, sending them into fits of giggles at anything he said. Tessa had offered to take pictures which they had enthusiastically accepted. It had been her first taste of the fact the people she was hanging out with now could be recognised by anyone, even as they simply walked down the street. She wasn't sure how she would feel when the same inevitably happened when she was with Brandon. Ronnie was confident they would see them again at the show.

"Do you ever wear clothes," Ronnie snorted as they located Brandon's dressing room.

Brandon's face lit up when he saw them and he pulled Tessa against his bare chest, the moisture on his body from the shower he had just taken running onto her face. She tried not to think about the fact he was only wearing a towel.

"I don't shower with my clothes on, no," Brandon shot back.

After catching up on their day, intermittently moving between the main room and the bathroom to get dressed, Brandon disappeared through the door to talk to his band. Ronnie and Tessa made their way through the corridors again to slip into the increasingly busy venue from the side, where Ronnie hoped he may be a little less noticed. Tessa noticed some girls nudge each other and point at Ronnie, who offered them a wave. Mercifully, the crowd around their spot slightly to the side of the stage was now too tightly packed to allow for them to reach him and create a stampede.

"I thought this was supposed to be a small corporate gig?" Tessa frowned.

Ronnie laughed, "Did he say that? Nothing Brandon ever does is small anymore. There are corporates and critics up there," He pointed to some tinted glass boxes a level higher than where they stood, "But he's popular. The label couldn't justify not selling GA tickets."

Tessa nodded. She had been to plenty of concerts and knew what a crowd was like, but something about knowing it was Brandon about to go out on stage and perform for this buzzing audience made her a little dizzy. But however overwhelmed she was by the madness of the situation, her body felt electric knowing she would get to hear him sing, live, for the first time. She couldn't wipe the smile off her face.

As the room went dark, the backdrop of the stage lit up with the album title, and yellow and white lights began to flash around the room. The cheer was deafening.

Ronnie bent down close to her ear and shouted, "He puts on a hell of a show!"

Tessa smiled at him, half dazed and in wonder, and turned her eyes back to the stage. A familiar figure appeared after the band had taken up their spots and jumped onto a speaker at the front and centre of the stage. A low hum of music that had been playing while they walked out was replaced by the familiar beginning to Dreams Come True, and a spotlight lit up Brandon as the surge of music brought the crowd to a frenzy. Tessa laughed out loud in delight as he struck a pose on before he took up his microphone and the sweet sound of his voice filled the room.

\--

"Holy. Shit."

Brandon giggled as Tessa jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist and squeezing him tightly. His body was still dripping with sweat, but she didn't care.

"That was insane, Brandon! You didn't tell me you were that good!"

As she dropped back onto the floor, her sparkling eyes still looking up at him in a way that turned him to jelly, Ronnie slapped his back.

"That is an annoyingly excellent piece of work," He smiled, "The others might have some regrets about that break."

Brandon smiled back at him appreciatively. It wasn't like Ronnie hadn't been hearing the album as it progressed from start to finish, but it meant a lot that he enjoyed the show.

Champagne was popped and cheers given as Brandon and the band changed into less sweaty clothes and scattered around various seats in the room to enjoy the buzz of finally getting out onto a stage. The relatively spacious room seemed small as the band, crew and guests piled in.

"I'm in awe of you," Tessa shook her head as they sat together on a large armchair in the corner, finally feeling a little bit of privacy again as numerous conversations around the room created the effect of white noise.

She was perched on the armrest with her legs draped over his knee. They each had a glass of champagne (the second or third of the evening) in hand and Brandon was playing with the zip at the top of her ankle boot. He shot her the sweetest smile she had ever seen as he mumbled a bashful thanks. She watched his face as he concentrated on where his fingers were brushing her ankle. It was hard to believe the slightly blushing man in front of her was the same one who had exuded a huge amount of confidence on the stage. Suddenly he grabbed her foot and tilted it towards him.

"You have a tattoo?!"

Tessa laughed, "I have three tattoos. Your observational skills need work."

Brandon frowned and scanned his eyes over her bare legs and the other visible portions of her skin.

"Well excuse me if I wasn't paying attention to your ankle when you were grinding against me last night," He smirked at her.

So the confidence isn't totally gone, then, she thought. He had always set the butterflies off in her stomach, ever since his first few visits to the coffee shop, but this flirtier side of him was something that could drive her crazy. And she would let it. Suddenly aware of how close to sitting on him she was, Tessa blushed and fiddled with the ring on her middle finger. She could feel him watching her with a smile, and couldn't help but think he was enjoying making her squirm.

"Where are the others?"

It was her turn to tease as she smirked and replied, "You'll just have to wait and see, Mr Flowers."

Brandon's pupils dilated a little and his eyes dropped over the clothed parts of her body as if he was trying to sense where the hidden tattoos were. When he looked back up, his gaze was immediately drawn to her lips. The bustle of the room around them faded to the back of Tessa's mind as she leaned down to kiss him slowly and teasingly. Brandon had proven to be very physically affectionate in general, kissing her head and nuzzling against her shoulder at any moment they were close enough. But these kinds of kisses had been growing in intensity, an intensity that seemed to have bubbled over following the frustration of the night before.

A groan originating deep in Brandon's chest sent shivers through Tessa's body. She nibbled on his bottom lip in response, sliding her hand under the neckline of his t-shirt just for the contact of his skin on hers. Brandon's hand gripped her calf tightly and pulled her off the armrest and onto his lap, before moving to her waist where his long thumb began to stroke teasingly close to her breast. She exhaled heavily against his lips as he freed his other hand from its champagne glass and used it to tug on her hair slightly, allowing him to control the movements of their mouths.

"I'm aware I'm reaching my quota for cock-blocking," Ronnie's teasing voice cut through the rising fire between them, "But we're gonna hit the bar around the corner."

He motioned vaguely to the rest of the room as Brandon glared at him. Tessa held back a giggle at his furious eyes and hit his chest lightly.

"We'll see you later, Ronnie," She said quietly.

Brandon's mood picked up as he looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You'll see me tomorrow," Ronnie replied, "I booked myself my own hotel room, you know, like a normal adult would. Consider it my apology for last night. I'll grab my stuff from your suite in the morning."

Brandon had begun to shift in the seat before Ronnie had finished his first sentence. Tessa moved off his knee and pecked a kiss against Ronnie's cheek as Brandon quickly and without subtlety collected his jacket and checked with his team that they'd take care everything else in the room.

"Well," Ronnie snorted at Tessa, "I was gonna say you two should get a room before things escalate here but clearly he doesn't need telling twice."


	11. Chapter 11

Their hands never parted as they made their way back to the hotel.

"What are you doing?" Tessa asked, stripping her jacket off as she walked into the living room of their suite, while Brandon hunched over the door and fiddled with the handle.

"Just putting on the 'do not disturb' sign," He giggled, "This door cannot stop us again."

Tessa nodded her agreement as he swung the door shut again and locked it. He turned to her with more caution than he had been showing in the dressing room, the effects of the alcohol having been lessened by the chill night air they had walked back in. Her warm smile relaxed him again, and he admired the pinkness in her cheeks from the walk as she closed the gap between them and kissed him slowly. Her hands ran over his chest as his found her back, delicately holding onto the back of her shirt. He slipped his tongue into her mouth and she reciprocated with a little more harshness than he had expected, making him smile against her lips.

When she tugged on the collar of his jacket, he shrugged it off without breaking their kiss. Her hands moved to his hair and she twirled her fingers through the curls, tugging gently. He moaned slightly against her mouth and she pulled back. Opening his eyes, he took in the sight of her swollen lips, slightly parted while she caught her breath. His eyes drew upwards as hers flicked up to meet them.

"You're so beautiful," He whispered, resting his hands on her sides as he took a moment just to enjoy being able to hold her.

Tessa smiled appreciatively at him, before teasing, "You're so corny."

He giggled and took a step back, taking her hand and leading her to the room they had shared the previous night. He wanted to do this properly, and judging by how quickly heated things had gotten in the living room and dressing room previously, that meant moving them into the bedroom as soon as possible. He wanted to be sure the tenderness he was feeling towards her was clear beyond the physical.

He spun her around gently as he pushed the door closed, laying her back against it with his hands stroking over her hips.

"Are you sure you're ok with this?" He asked softly, "I don't want you to think we have to do this just because we finally have some space."

She chuckled as he emphasised the frustrating lack of time alone they had had over the weekend. Standing on her toes and placing her hands on his chest for balance, she kissed him softly. After a couple of seconds, she pulled away and smiled up at him.

"Brandon, just because my body isn't anatomically showing that I've been as frustrated as you for the last few days..." She glanced downwards and raised an eyebrow, "Doesn't mean I haven't been."

Brandon breathed a sigh of relief and nervously giggled, before pulling her into a kiss as intense as he could muster. He would have understood if it was too soon to take this step, but his heart soared when she revealed that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Tessa met him with equal intensity, dropping her hands to his hips and pulling him as close as she could as they savoured the moment. With his body pressing hers into the door, Tessa's hands found their way under his shirt, lightly grazing his back with her fingernails. As she brought them to his shoulders, Brandon broke their kiss to pull his shirt over his head and toss it to the side. She had seen him shirtless (hell, he had been parading around in his underwear all morning!) but the look in her eyes was different this time as she took him in and he felt slightly overwhelmed by his feelings for her.

"Are you sure you're ok with this?" She repeated his question back to him as she examined his slightly nervous face.

"Yeah!" He said, a tad overenthusiastic which made him blush and her giggle, "I just really like you. I wanna get this right."

"We'll figure it out," Tessa wiggled her eyebrows at him and it was his turn to giggle.

He followed her lead as she kicked off her shoes. Tessa took his hand and led him to the end of the bed where she began to kiss his chest and collarbone. His head lolled backwards as he enjoyed the difference in sensation of her wet kisses and licks versus the cooler air in the room prickling his skin where her lips had been. Pulling his mind out of its bliss, he reached forwards to untuck her shirt and began to unbutton it. Tessa pulled it away from her shoulders to reveal a light blue lace bra which he ran his hands over the back and side of as she watched his expression. Slowly, he brought his hands to her chest and ran his thumbs across her nipples, just barely visible through the thin material. He imagined his face looked as dopey as he felt, with a wide smile plastered across it.

"So so beautiful," He repeated.

"You're cute," She laughed, reaching up to kiss his lips.

His hands wandered downwards and slipped under the waistband of her skirt, brushing the top of her ass with his fingers. Tessa's bottom lip dropped as he squeezed her under the skirt and stroked over the lace of her panties with his thumbs. He tugged the material of the skirt down and she kicked it to the floor. Her hands moved quickly to his jeans, unbuttoning them and encouraging him to take them off the rest of the way. He obliged and had to steady himself against the bed when he nearly tripped over the skintight material around his legs.

"I don't know why it's so funny that you have me this flustered," He pouted as she laughed at him, but started giggling when he too was unable to keep a straight face.

His giggling was replaced by a low moan when she stepped closer to him and grazed her fingers over the bulge still covered by his briefs. She slowly began to palm him through the material, bringing her lips back to his chest where she flicked her tongue over one of his nipples. He gasped in pleasure and brought his hands to her face, turning her chin upwards so he could kiss her again.

As he deepened the kiss, Tessa's hand moved away from his length to steady herself against his arm, squeezing his bicep slightly.

"Lie down," Brandon said in barely a whisper.

Tessa complied and sat on the bed, laying back, watching him the entire time.

"Two," He smiled as he shamelessly ran his eyes over her body.

Tessa frowned in confusion. Brandon knelt on the floor at the end of the bed and pulled her knees to either side of his torso. He placed a kiss against her hipbone, where he had spotted a tattoo of intwined hands.

"I've found two," He smiled.

Tessa laughed, a little nervously as she could feel Brandon's breath against her inner thigh.

"Did it hurt?" He asked, genuinely curious as he ran his thumb over the design.

"A little," She replied, "It's pretty small so it was quick. The bit right over the bone was the worst."

Brandon nodded. He kissed the tattoo again, before trailing his lips across to her other hipbone.

"Are you gonna get more?" He asked, before pinching the skin at her hip with his teeth.

Tessa gasped and let out a giggle, "I'd like to. Why? You wanna get matching?"

Brandon laughed and brought his lips over the material of her panties, just close enough to her centre to cause her breath to hitch. Instead, he landed a kiss on her upper thigh.

"I nearly got one when I was a teenager. I was a big Oasis fan, even then."

"Oh my god, really?" Tessa laughed again, "Why didn't you?"

"New Order were playing Vegas," He smiled up at her, before nipping his teeth on the top of her thighs, "I didn't have enough money for both."

"Brandon..." She breathed as he finished his sentence by rolling his tongue against her thigh.

Complying, he pressed his lips between her legs, kissing her through the blue lace and running his nose right over her centre. She whimpered at the pressure and clutched the sheets.

"Is it ok if I...?" Brandon looked up at her as he slid his fingers under each side of her panties.

When Tessa nodded, he pulled them down her legs, tossing them to the side and kissing his way back up her thighs. She was still watching him, her mouth open slightly and her brows a little furrowed. Winking at her playfully, he brought his tongue back to her nub. Without the barrier of material between them, Tessa let out a quiet, long moan as he flattened it against her and applied a few slow, soft licks. Her head fell backwards as she let out soft cries of pleasure.

Brandon worked his mouth against her for a while, switching between pointing his tongue and moving it harshly, and slower, more delicate movements with his tongue flat. He smiled when her body responded to something with little jolts or twists.

"Is this ok?" He paused, looking up at her.

She lifted her head and raised her eyebrows, "It's fucking amazing," she replied, breathlessly.

He giggled and returned his tongue, moving faster and more purposefully. When her legs began to twitch he brought his fingers to her entrance, circling slowly before he dipped one inside her and began moving it slowly in and out in time with the licks he was applying to her nub.

"Fucking hell, Brandon," Tessa whimpered, "I'm gonna..."

"Come for me, baby," He encouraged, flicking his tongue quickly in the way she had responded to best and adding a second finger which he began to pump slightly faster.

"Oh... go-- Brandon!"

Her body tensed as she came, and he withdrew his fingers slowly. He continued to roll his tongue against her until she rested a hand against his head. Climbing onto the bed beside her, he ran his hand over her stomach and watched her expression change as she caught her breath.

"Jesus..." She breathed out with a giggle, "I was not expecting that."

Brandon smiled and kissed her, grateful when her hand soon began to wander down his stomach and into his briefs. He sighed as she wrapped her fingers around his now fully hard length and slowly began to stroke him. He gasped softly when she squeezed him gently, and when she ran her thumb over his tip he had to break their kiss to let out a heavy breath. Tessa sped up her strokes as he let out soft whimpers and began to buck into her hand.

As the first drops of pre-cum appeared, Brandon grabbed Tessa's arm and she withdrew her hand with a final tease over his tip which almost sent him over the edge. Brandon wriggled out of his briefs as Tessa sat up and pulled the final piece of her clothing over her head.

"Oh my gosh! Are those flowers?!" He giggled in delight as he caught sight of a small, intricate pattern on her ribcage, that had previously been hidden by the bra.

Tessa laughed and covered her face in embarrassment as he held her arm up and took a closer look. Sure enough, a tiny bunch of flowers was etched against her ribs. He giggled again as he saw her blushing in the dim light of the room.

"Stop," She groaned.

"I think that's what they call fate," He teased.

"Ok, Flowers, please just get back to fucking me."

He raised an eyebrow and leant down to kiss her, "If you wish. Still cute though."

He leant over the edge of the bed and located a little square packet from his bag, ripping open the foil with his teeth. Tessa watched as he rolled the condom on.

"You ready?" He whispered, resting his forehead against hers as she moved her legs a little to get used to his body between them. He stroked her sides lightly, enjoying the contact of their skin even in this most purposeless way.

"Hell. Yeah." She kissed him after each word.

Brandon slowly entered her, eliciting long moans from both of them. He felt her tense slightly as he moved himself further in, and brought his lips to her neck where he kissed her slowly and allowed her to adjust to his size. When he felt her leg move around his ass, he pushed into her completely with a groan.

"Are you good?" He checked, stroking his thumb against her chin.

Her eyes fluttered open and she nodded, shooting him a smile. He brought their lips back together as he began to move in and out, building the pace slowly. She squeezed her hand in his hair when he hit a certain spot and the pain mixed with the pleasure drove him crazy. With each tug on his hair he found himself thrusting a little faster or a little harder until she was moaning his name.

"Fuck, Brandon," She gasped, as he began slamming their hips together, her eyes rolling closed and her back arching into him.

He buried his head in her neck as he angled his hips that way again. She let out a little cry as he found the spot again and hit it repeatedly, and began moving her own hips off the bed in time with his thrusts.

"Come on, baby," He encouraged her, his groans turning into grunts as he neared his own end, "There you go..."

Her fist curled in his hair as she cried out his name and a series of expletives. He rested on the flat of his hand as he continued to thrust into her, determined to watch her face change as she came undone, since he had missed it last time. Her legs began to shake with the overstimulation as he continued to push into her, his thrusts slowing and becoming deeper until he joined her in bliss.

"Oh fuck, Tess..." He groaned and slowed his hips as he released into the condom.

Tessa found herself giggling at the tickling sensation of Brandon's heavy breath against her neck as he caught his breath on top of her. Brandon pulled his head up and smiled back at her, planting a long, slow kiss against her lips. When their lips parted, he began to place smaller kisses against her jaw while she ran her fingers up and down his back.

"So that was..." She started.

"Fucking awesome," He finished, pulling out of her and bringing himself onto his knees where he continued to grin at her.

Tessa snorted, "Pretty fucking awesome, bro."

Brandon stuck his tongue out at her and slid off the bed to get rid of the condom in the small adjoining bathroom.

As he slipped back into bed, this time under the covers where Tessa had already positioned herself, she slapped his chest lightly.

"It was fucking awesome though," She laughed.

"We're very good at that," He giggled back and kissed the top of her head.


	12. Chapter 12

"Nooooo..." Brandon groaned as Tessa grabbed the bag of chips out of his hand, "That's not fair! I can't fight back without crashing this car!"

"Keep your eyes on the road, this isn't a Morrissey song," Tessa teased, putting her feet on the dash and popping a handful of chips into her mouth. 

"You leave Morrissey out of this," Brandon raised an eyebrow but grinned as he changed lanes.

He had reluctantly left her asleep in the morning as he headed out for a day of interviews, but had called in a room service order for an hour after he left. She had sent him a photo of the waffles later which should have made him jealous, considering he had only managed to eat a yoghurt, but he got far too distracted by the other things in the image. It had been taken from the waist up as she held the plate of waffles in front of her, with his shirt hanging slightly open on her otherwise bare chest. He hadn't stopped thinking about it all day. 

"You were so great again tonight," Tessa sighed, snapping him out of his daydream, "I can't believe I had never seen you live before this weekend." 

He giggled, "Thanks, baby. It's fun being back up there. That's the best bit about all of this."

He had spotted her in the crowd this time, something he hadn't managed to do the previous night. The waffle picture had flooded back into his mind and he had nearly tripped over on the stage, resolving not to look at her for too long again until he figured out how to be chill. He was still working on it.

"I think the crowd appreciated you bringing on Ronnie, too."

"The fans love Ron," Brandon smiled, "And it was pretty nice for me to have him there. Darren is great and all, but it's like Ronnie just knows what I'm thinking before I've thought it."

Tessa nodded, "You can tell. You're confident up there anyway but you just looked so at ease with him."

The show had ended a couple of hours ago, and Brandon and Tessa had brought their bags from the venue to his car. After thanking Ronnie for his surprise support and double checking the next arrangements with the band, they had said their goodbyes and started the journey back to Vegas. They were planning to stop at the same motel as last time, even though that meant doing less of the journey now and more tomorrow. But this time they could stay until the following morning since they were not working to a tight schedule. Tessa didn't have to work again until the day after. 

"So last night was fun," Brandon blurted out after a while of comfortable silence.

Tessa looked at him and laughed, "Good to know where your mind is at."

"I'm not... That's no--" He blushed, "I just... We haven't had a chance to talk about it since it happened and I just wanted to say that I don't regret moving things that fast and I hope you don't--"

He stopped stumbling over his words when Tessa's hand landed halfway up his thigh. 

"Last night was a lot of fun," She smiled, continuing to look out the window at the open, empty road ahead of them.

Brandon coughed and shuffled in his seat. He glanced round at Tessa who was still smiling and looking straight ahead. Just as he composed himself and was about to start talking again, her hand slid further up his thigh and squeezed it lightly. 

"The DMV would not approve of this."

Tessa cracked up and took her feet off the dash, turning around to face him in her seat. She left her hand brushing the top of his thigh as he squirmed in his seat.

"And are you saying you wouldn't die by my side? Because that's a heavenly way to die."

"You do know some Morrissey!" He chuckled delightedly.

"Of course I know some Morrissey," She rolled her eyes, "That's how I know his music isn't my thing."

"Thanks for not saying you hate him," He raised his eyebrows, "You know, before you were anywhere near my bed, I used to sleep with a Morrissey pillow."

"Oh fuck," She sighed dramatically and removed her hand from his leg, "And we were doing so well." 

Brandon snorted, "You wanna walk back to Vegas?"

"I guess I'll overlook it for the ride," Tessa winked as he glanced around at her, "But you gotta answer some questions honestly for me, ok?"

Brandon nodded slowly, narrowing his eyes as he looked back at the road ahead. 

"Do you still have it?"

"No. I've met him, that would be weird."

"It was always weird, B. Did you have it because you had a crush on him?"

Brandon thought for a moment this time, then shook his head, "I think I just wanted to be him."

"So you've never been having sex and thought of him?"

Brandon choked on air, "No! Oh my gosh!"

"I'm just asking."

"Tessa Amelia Campbell! No I have never pictured... When I've been... I didn't..."

Tessa snickered as he protested in flustered bursts, blushing furiously. She raised her hands in defence when he reached over and pushed her shoulder lightly.

"Ok ok! I was just curious about how far your sleeping with him thing went. It's fine. I mean, you could do better, but you know."

"Oh my gosh."

\--

When they arrived at the motel, Tessa joined Brandon as he went to get their key. She had to stifle a laugh against her fist when he gave the receptionist his alias - "Lovejoy".

"You're the worst person I've ever met," She snorted as they opened the door to their room. 

"Shut up," He rolled his eyes and smiled, throwing his bag onto the chair and sitting on the bed, "I've lived with Flowers my whole life, why would I choose a 'normal' alias?"

He grabbed the belt loop of her jeans as she walked in front of him and pulled her between his legs, wrapping his arms around her legs and resting his head on her stomach. She sighed and ran her hands over his shoulders and neck, bringing them up to his increasingly curling hair. The gel he had used to tame it for the show had disintegrated since, probably thanks to the sweat.

"You should leave your hair like this, you don't need the gel," She mumbled as she ran her fingers through the messy curls. 

He nodded against her shirt. Slowly unwrapping his arms from their grip around her, he brought his hands to her butt and squeezed it tightly.

"Easy, Lovejoy," She laughed, "I gotta shower. I haven't danced that much in a long time."

Looking up at her through his long eyelashes he grinned, "Want some company?"

\--

Waking up as the sun came in through the thin curtains of the motel, Brandon sighed happily as he looked down at Tessa's arm flung over his bare chest. Glancing to his left, he giggled at the splay of hair over the pillows where she lay on her side, facing towards him but with only a little glimpse of her eyes visible beneath the mane of hair. 

"What's so funny?" She said groggily, the one eye he could see opening and making him laugh even more.

"Nothing," He tried to stop, "I didn't mean to wake you. You... You look like the girl from The Ring."

"Oh, that is just charming," She snorted as he let out another fit of giggles, "You're the one who made me too tired to do anything with this hair before I fell asleep!"

"I'm not sorry," He grinned, pushing her hair out of her face and kissing her lazily. 

Eventually, between bursts of making out and teasing each other, they managed to get out of bed and make their way back to the car.

"I prefer driving at night," Brandon grimaced as he dug through the glovebox to find his sunglasses before pulling out of the motel parking lot and starting their journey.

"It'll be pretty much night by the time we get to Vegas," Tessa replied, reading the time on the console. 

"Oh my gosh! We'll see the sunset on one side and the city on the other as we drive in!" Brandon excitedly slapped his hand against her leg a little too hard and she yelped.

"Jesus christ, Brandon," She laughed as he brought his hand over his mouth and began to apologise profusely, "Do you have any idea how much shit I'm gonna get from Tom about this hickey let alone if your handprints are up my legs?"


	13. Chapter 13

"Tell me EVERYTHING!" Tom yelled, leaping onto the counter the moment she opened the door of the shop, "WHY DIDN'T YOU REPLY TO MY TEXTS?"

Tessa snorted, "What did you want me to say to eggplant emoji, question mark?"

"I wanted to know if you saw his eggplant emoji, and I think you know that."

Tessa rolled her eyes and walked behind him to pick up her apron. Tom swivelled on his butt so he was facing her again.

"Oh my god," He squealed in delight, "You did! Ok, just say when..."

Tessa turned around to see Tom holding his hands like he was praying. Slowly, he began to move them apart. She raised an eyebrow at him as he kept going.

"I'm getting worried," He frowned as the length of the gap between his hands grew.

Tessa shrugged and smiled at him but said nothing. 

"Ok, fine. If you won't tell me that you have to tell me where!"

"Just between his legs, the usual place."

"I'm going to die if you don't answer me seriously," Tom whined. 

"Cool," Tessa nodded, "I'll be sure to tell your family you died thinking about Brandon Flowers' dick."

"There's no way I'd rather go, make sure it comes to my funeral."

\--

The day dragged on more than usual since all Tessa could think about was her long weekend with Brandon. He had driven her back to her apartment, reluctantly agreeing that she couldn't stay at his apartment because she needed her work clothes. Besides, he had some meetings about publicity for the tour date announcements that were likely to last all day, so he couldn't bring her to work in the morning. He still pouted at her the whole time they said their goodbyes.

Her phone buzzed in her back pocket as she was working at the counter. After serving the customer, she checked that no one else was waiting and whipped her phone out. 

 

Brandon: 👅

Tessa: are you trying to... sext?

B: 😧

B: ...

B: No! That was supposed to be a heart! 

B: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

T: cute. either way 😉

B: I would be better at sexy texting than that.

T: you didn't know what sexting was, did you?

B: No. Ronnie told me. I didn't even know I had a picture keyboard. What is this 🌚 ?

 

Tessa snorted and stuck her phone back in her pocket. She wasn't going to get the chance to see Brandon tonight because he was working, but she was making him dinner tomorrow night and she couldn't wait. Deciding she needed to stop smiling at her phone like an idiot, she shook herself out of the daydream and returned to the counter where a group of girls were scanning through the menu.

"Hey! What can I get for you?" She smiled and put on her best customer service voice.

"Are you Tessa?" One of the girls asked, while the rest giggled.

"Uhh... Yeah?"

"Brandon's Tessa?"

She winced, "I'm sorry, what do you mean?"

"You're dating Brandon Flowers! You're the girl from the pictures! This must be his favourite coffee place they were talking about!" 

Tessa was confused, but took their orders and tried to steer the conversation to politely figure out what was happening. The girls were Killers fans, she established, and had driven across town because her name and the coffee shop she worked in had been mentioned in an article about the release of his solo album. Keeping the smile on her face, she managed to get them their drinks before moving into the back room and asking Tom to work the counter for a while.

Whipping out her phone again, she googled Brandon's name. Sure enough, some of the interviews he had done at the weekend began to appear as she scrolled to the 'news' section. Most of them seemed to have a slightly fuzzy picture of the two of them at the listening party.

"Shit," She muttered under her breath. 

It was a picture from the moment right after he had scooped her into a hug, and they were standing way too close for the empty space around them. She knew those people across the room had been looking at them strangely. From the fuzziness of the image, it looked like it had been taken on a phone camera - which made sense since Brandon hadn't allowed photographers there on the night.

\--

"These should be alphabetical," Brandon's voice cut through the sounds of the kitchen as Tessa threw together the final bits of their meal. 

"Sorry, I forgot the vinyl police were visiting," Tessa replied. She winced. She had intended that to come out in a jokey way but the tension she was feeling had turned the tone a little sour.

"Hey," He appeared at the doorway with a frown, "Can you please forget about the picture? I just wanna hang out with you."

Tessa set the lid back on a pan of tortellini and hit the timer for another three minutes. She leant back against the counter as Brandon folded his arms in the doorway. He looked exhausted. She didn't mean to fixate on the articles she had seen, but it had kind of freaked her out - no matter how much he had tried to calm her down on the phone yesterday. He'd even insisted he was going to cancel his meetings for the evening and come to see her but she had declined, preferring to process it for herself before she had to deal with it with him. But since he had arrived in her apartment for their dinner date, things had been tense.

"They knew my name and where I worked, Brandon."

He nodded and pursed his lips, "I'm sorry. I don't know how that happened. They shouldn't have known that." 

They sat in silence, Brandon running his hand over his jaw while Tessa stared at the floor. She could tell she was testing his patience, and she really didn't want to fight with him. He'd been nothing but apologetic, even though it wasn't his fault and it wasn't him she was mad at.

"I know you're used to this, and it isn't a big deal to you..."

"It is a big fucking deal, Tessa," He snapped, "I do get that. It hasn't exactly been a breezy ten years." 

Shit. Okay, that didn't come out the way I intended.

"Brandon, all I mean is that I'm just... I know this frustrates you too," She tried to backtrack and articulately explain how she felt, "I'm trying to not let it freak me out. My problem isn't with you, or even with the picture itself. It's the details."

She fell silent again, unable to explain her feelings. Brandon sighed and ran his hand over his hair. He pushed himself off the doorframe suddenly. Tessa felt her breathing speed up and her heart start to race as she watched him.

Oh fuck, not now.

"Wow, Tessa," Brandon said softly, the annoyance on his face completely vanishing as he realised she was having a panic attack, "Hey, it's ok. It's ok. It's gonna be ok. Take a deep breath for me."

He stepped towards her with his hand outstretched, but she winced away from his touch. Dropping his arm by his side, he continued to talk to her in the most calming voice he was capable of. Slowly, she began to breathe to the pattern he was coaxing.

"There, deep breaths. It's gonna be ok... You're gonna be ok," He soothed as she started to calm down, "You can't leave me here with this pasta. I set fire to spaghetti once. It deserves better." 

He let out a sigh of relief when she giggled slightly, dropping her hunched shoulders. He stood as still as possible by her side, watching as her breathing returned to normal.

"How?" She frowned after a couple of seconds.

He shrugged and grinned at her, "I don't know. I answered my phone and when I looked at the pan again it was on fire."

Tessa laughed out loud. She started slightly at the shrill ring of the timer but recovered quickly and set about draining the pasta. Brandon watched her in silence as she dropped the food into two bowls and the pan into the sink. Out of nowhere, she flung her arms around his waist. He slowly wrapped his arms around her back, running his fingers gently up and down her spine as she breathed steadily against his chest.

"Sorry," She whispered.

"There is nothing you need to be sorry for," He said gently, "I didn't mean to stress you out more about this picture thing."

"Oh my god, Brandon," She let go of him and looked up, making eye contact with him again for the first time, "You didn't!"

He looked at her curiously as she played with the top buttons of his shirt, running his hands softly up and down her sides. Tessa breathed in deeply. She knew he didn't expect an explanation, but she wanted to explain that it wasn't his fault. She wanted him to know everything.

"Ok. Jack used to get pretty mad," She laughed humourlessly, "And the way you moved off the doorframe just reminded me of him when he snapped, just for a second. It's ridiculous, I know."

"It's not even slightly ridiculous," Brandon comforted her, bringing one hand up to brush her cheekbone, "Did he..."

"No," She said quickly as he trailed off, "No. Just slammed a lot of doors. We had a hole in our kitchen wall because he got mad about me staying at a friend's house. He put his fist right through it. Which is weird because he was the one who cheated."

Tessa let out a short nervous laugh, before finally risking a look at Brandon. He was looking right back at her with eyes full of concern. She felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. There was no reason to feel that Brandon would be anything like Jack or to let her past ruin how great their current situation was. The stress of overthinking the photo issue was getting to her, she realised.

"I'm sorry," He said quietly, "No one should have to live with that. You know I would never..."

"I know, B," She sighed, "You're not like him. It was just for a second."

Brandon wrapped his arms around her again and rocked the two of them slowly back and forth until Tessa began to giggle.

"This is cute but I'm hungry," She raised an eyebrow at him. 

He let go and grinned back at her, "I'm not even gonna attempt to keep a half-Italian back from her pasta."

Tessa nodded in agreement and picked up the bowls of food as Brandon jogged into the room ahead of her and moved the needle onto the record he had picked out. She smiled as Don Henley's voice filled the room.

"Those still need to be in alphabetical order."

"Richard, eat your goddamn pasta."

"Don't call me Richard," He pouted over-dramatically, "And I'm serious. I'm organising them after we eat."

\--

Tessa lay on the floor, listening to the The Cure record Brandon had chosen as he crouched on the floor with her music collection fanned out around him. She had ended up on the floor when Brandon's carefully ordered piles of records stacked on her couch began to get precariously tall. He was frowning and his mouth was moving soundlessly as he recited the alphabet to himself to figure out where a Kaiser Chiefs record should go. 

"Dude seriously," Tessa snorted, "You don't have to do that right now. I didn't hire you to fix my messy music collection."

"It's therapeutic, 'dude'," He snickered at her choice of address, "Besides, I can't let you live like this."

Tessa giggled and closed her eyes. There was no stopping him, clearly. After a few minutes she felt a nudge against her leg and looked up to see him kneeling either side of her thighs. He grinned at her and leant on his hands, leaning in and rubbing his nose against hers affectionately. 

"Thank you for dinner," He mumbled, kissing her lightly.

"You're welcome," She smiled and brought her hands up to his sides, enjoying the warmth of his body against her fingertips. 

"Are you feeling better?" 

"Brandon, you don't need to worry about me," She said seriously, "It was just the stress of the past day or two combined with some bad memories."

"I know," He said softly, "Just checking."

He began to kiss down her neck and she hummed happily. He trailed his lips back up her neck and pushed them against hers more urgently. 

"Where is your mom from again?" He frowned, breaking their kiss.

"We need to work on your dirty talk," She snorted and he blushed and screwed up his nose, "She's from just outside Milan. Why?"

"I'm doing a show there! End of November I think." 

"Oh! Have you ever been?" She brought herself onto her elbows and kissed his jaw.

"No," He shook his head and looked at her thoughtfully, "Can you speak Italian?"

"O mangi la minestra o salti dalla finestra," Tessa lowered her voice and put on her best over-exaggerated Italian accent. 

"Oh... hell," Brandon breathed, his eyes going dark as he brought his lips back to hers harshly.

Tessa interrupted the kiss with a laugh, "Ok, I'm sorry. No I can't speak Italian. That's just one of a handful of expressions mum would use on us when we were annoying. It means 'eat the soup or jump out the window'."

Brandon giggled and frowned, "What the fuck."

"Like 'it's my way or the highway'," Tessa explained, still grinning at him.

Brandon nodded in understanding then shrugged and brought his face back to hers, "Still hot."


	14. Chapter 14

Brandon watched Ronnie carefully as he sat in thought at the other side of their small table. He was recounting the strange parts of his evening with Tessa to Ronnie. Although he had felt nervous to tell Ronnie in case he was betraying Tessa's trust, he knew he needed to talk through his own thoughts with someone before they took him down a dark path. The couple of days he had spent stuck in his own head thinking about it was bad enough. They were situated in a Starbucks, since Brandon had agreed with Tessa that it would be best for him to avoid the shop she worked in, at least for a while, until they gauged the effect of the articles.

"Was she, like, scared of you?" Ronnie asked with a frown.

Brandon shook his head, "No. I'm certain she wasn't. It seemed like she flashed back to something he did. She said he got... aggressive sometimes. He punched a hole in their kitchen wall."

"That's heavy," Ronnie raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah. He didn't hurt her," Brandon sighed, predicting Ronnie's next question, "Physically, I guess, anyway."

Ronnie nodded, still frowning.

Brandon bit his lip, "You think there's something more to the story?"

Ronnie shook his head, "I have no idea, man. It's not my place to speculate. I don't know her well enough. But she left London because of him right? Vegas is a long way to run to just for a bad break up."

Brandon frowned at his coffee. He took a sip while he composed his thoughts. 

"I don't think she was running from Jack," He started carefully, "I think she was running from that part of her life. That boyfriend, that job, those friends... It was all interconnected so it was easiest to cut the whole thing off. Besides, she moved to Vegas because she has other friends here." 

"That makes sense," Ronnie shrugged, "And you've only known her for barely a couple of weeks, Brandon. Most people learn stuff about their partner over time, you might just be learning the abridged versions of things in a short space of time. I'm sure someday she'll tell you more if there is more to tell."

Brandon sighed deeply and nodded. He felt better. Ronnie's instinct had been the same as his - that Tessa's 'bad' relationship with Jack had been much worse than he thought. But as he talked through everything and thought back to what she had said, there was no reason to disbelieve her when she had said Jack didn't hurt her. 

"I just don't wanna be the cause of anything like that ever again," He said quietly. 

Ronnie smiled sympathetically, "You won't be. Hell, you weren't this time - she told you that, right? You care enough to stop things from getting out of control. Especially now that you know." 

Brandon smiled back in appreciation. 

"Did you figure out the photo thing?"

"No," Brandon grimaced, "It's very early for her to be dealing with that bullshit."

"I hate to point out the obvious," Ronnie replied, "But you did bring her to that event. Everyone there had their eagle eyes on you, it was always likely to come up in some way."

Brandon nodded, "I know. I was kind of ok with that. I'm serious about her. But how did they know her full name and where she worked? It's such an invasion of her privacy."

"They always figure these things out, Brandon," Ronnie laughed ruefully, "We know that by now."

Brandon sighed in defeat. It was still bugging him but he knew for both his and Tessa's sake, he needed to let it go. He had only gotten frustrated with her questions because he didn't have the answers, and he hated feeling like that. 

"Here she is!" Ronnie said gleefully as Tessa walked through the door, looking red faced and sweaty. 

Brandon giggled. She had decided to incorporate her after-work run into coming to see him. He stood up as she walked over to them, followed by the man he had kind of grown to hate over the past months based on nothing but his own jealousy. He was going to have to unlearn that.

"This place is fucking far away," Tessa huffed as she stood on her toes and kissed Brandon. 

"It's not the distance, it's the sun," Jason groaned but shot a smile to the guys, "Pleasure to meet you, I'm Jason." 

"Another Scot!" Ronnie clapped his hands together, "The pleasure is all ours, Jason!"

Brandon watched Tessa as Jason and Ronnie talked back and forth. She looked calmer than she had the last time he saw her as she dropped into the seat he had vacated and ran the back of her hand across her forehead. Although she had calmed down significantly as they ate and continued to be relaxed when he spent the night, he wanted to see that that had been longer lasting than the bottle of wine they had shared. When she shot him a huge smile he sighed out loud in relief. She looked ok. 

"So, Brandon," Jason snapped him out of his thoughts, "What's a nice Mormon boy doing with someone like Tess?"

Tessa threw her hands in the air in protest, "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing," Jason shrugged, "But you nearly gave your Catholic boyfriend's mother a heart attack when you turned up to Mass in a leather miniskirt." 

Tessa groaned and banged her forehead lightly against the table.

"I didn't know he was taking me to fucking Mass, did I?" She muttered against the table.

Jason patted her shoulder sympathetically, stifling the laugh that Ronnie and Brandon had failed to. He turned his attention back to Brandon.

Brandon smirked slightly, "She convinced me I guess."

Tessa snorted, "Didn't take much convincing." 

Brandon blushed and giggled. The group talked for a few minutes before Jason announced he had to go. When their goodbyes had been said, Brandon sat himself on Tessa's lap and nuzzled his face into her neck. 

"Adorable," Ronnie rolled his eyes, "So glad to be a part of this. Thanks guys."

Tessa giggled and stroked Brandon's side as he stuck his tongue out at Ronnie.

"There are no other seats Ronald. Unless you want me to sit on your knee instead?" He replied then turned his attention back to Tessa, "Are you good?"

"You're light as a feather," Tessa shrugged and took a sip of her diet coke. 

Brandon pouted, "I am big and strong."

She snorted, "Yep. I am fire, I am death, and all that. I do wish you still had your Battle Born ass though," She wriggled in her chair to readjust his weight, "There was a little more cushioning on that thing."

Ronnie nodded his agreement.

Brandon pouted at them both before landing his gaze on Tessa again, "Have you been looking at old pictures of me?" 

"No!" She blushed, "Well, not intentionally. Tom sends me a new picture of you every 20 minutes." 

Brandon giggled as Tessa handed him her phone, open on her chat with Tom. He scrolled upwards, avoiding their typed messages until he came across a series of pictures of him. Well, parts of him. There was a zoomed in shot of his bicep from the Battle Born tour with a tongue emoji and a picture of his butt from the same tour, this time with a crying face emoji. A picture of him and Ronnie with their Sam's Town era facial hair was followed by the message "cowboy husbands", making him chuckle. He frowned as he tapped one of the images, which appear to just be of his legs in skinny jeans.

"Bulge pic," Tessa explained as she glimpsed her phone screen.

Brandon gaped at her as Ronnie leaned over to look.

"Oh my god," Ronnie laughed, "Shameless, Brandon, really. You loved those jeans for a reason."

"I didn't!" Brandon protested, "That's not why I wore those!" 

"Whatever you say," Tessa shrugged and rolled her eyes at Ronnie, who was still laughing. 

"Why would I want people to see that!"

Tessa raised her eyebrows at him, and looked between him and Ronnie.

"I mean, it's not a bad bulge, Brandon."

Ronnie shrugged and nodded his agreement, "Nothing to be ashamed of there."

Brandon blushed furiously and whined "Can we not talk about the size of my penis, please."


	15. Chapter 15

Tessa grinned like an idiot as she looked to her left to see Brandon asleep on the couch next to her with his mouth hanging open. He had insisted on coming round to her apartment again, even after a long day of phone and skype interviews in the build up to the start of the tour. Disregarding her concerns that he should get some sleep, he had showed up on her door in his sweatpants and a t-shirt, with the biggest (albeit pretty sleepy) grin she had ever seen and clutching a bouquet of gardenias in one hand and a DVD in the other. 

He let out a small whimper as she removed herself from under his arm. She winced and paused, but he seemed to still be fast asleep so she tiptoed to the kitchen to get a glass of water. When she came back, Brandon was pouting at her with his eyes barely open.

"Hey there sleeping beauty."

"You turned my movie off!"

"You've been asleep for 45 minutes, B. Your movie ended."

Brandon frowned and rubbed his eyes, "Sorry. Long day. Did you enjoy it, at least?"

She nodded and smiled at him. He had been so excited for her to see Moulin Rouge for the first time. Brandon yawned, then shook his head vigorously to wake himself up.

"Okay, I'm awake!" He said, slapping his legs, "What do you wanna do?"

Tessa snorted, "You are barely awake, so we are gonna stay here and you are gonna catch up on some sleep."

"No," Brandon frowned, "I can sleep on the plane. I prefer to knock myself out anyway. This is the last chance we're gonna get to hang out for a while."

Tessa's heart dropped. She had known he was going on tour soon but it hadn't really hit her how soon until he had arrived tonight with his cases in his car so he could go straight to the airport in the morning. Brandon saw her expression change and patted the couch beside him, encouraging her to sit.

"Hey," He mumbled as she sat down and dropped her head against his shoulder, "We'll be ok."

He paused for a moment as she hummed in agreement, then said, "I'll learn how to sext."

She giggled and flicked his chin with her finger. She believed everything would be fine, but spending two months away from him after their relationship had been in hyperdrive since it started was a daunting prospect. Trying to shake off the sadness and just enjoy their evening, she nuzzled against his neck and planted a kiss below his jaw. They sat in silence for a few moments, just enjoying each other's company.

"Uh, last time you did that I nearly crashed the car," Brandon giggled, eventually.

Tessa frowned in confusion then blushed when she realised her hand had subconsciously climbed higher on his leg than she originally intended.

"Oops. Sorry."

"You only want me for my body," He teased.

"Shut up," She snickered.

Deciding to mess with him a little, she ghosted her hand over his crotch, before dropping it on his other leg. From where her forehead was still against his neck, she felt him swallow nervously. Smiling to herself she ran her fingers up his hip bone, feeling his v line through the thin material of the t-shirt. She toyed with the end of his t-shirt, her hand still hovering painfully close to his crotch. After a couple of seconds of watching his chest rise and fall, she slid her hand under his shirt and twirled her fingers through the coarse hair leading down his stomach and into his briefs. Brandon audibly gasped.

"Tess..." He started.

Kissing his jaw again in response, she ran her hand higher up his chest until she reached his collarbone. Remembering how he had responded when she had lightly scratched him before, she ran her fingernails down his torso, stopping just as she reached the waistband of his sweatpants.

"Fuck," He murmured and she felt his stomach tense as her hand descended. 

Tessa glanced down and saw the growing bulge appearing under the navy material of his pants. She smirked to herself again as she reached down and cupped him gently through the material. Brandon groaned and squeezed her hip harshly, his head lolling backwards in pleasure. 

"You feeling more awake now, babe?" She mumbled against his ear, before pulling his earlobe between her teeth and beginning to palm him through his sweatpants.

Brandon's breath hitched and he nodded slightly. He turned his head to look at her, his pupils dilated and his lips slightly parted as his gaze dropped to her mouth. Obliging, she grinned and kissed him slowly, running her tongue over his bottom lip as she pulled away. Brandon leaned forward to kiss her again and she ducked her head backwards, grinning wickedly at him before removing her hand from his pants and standing up. 

Brandon groaned in protest, but his eyebrows shot upwards when she knelt in front of him. Tessa grinned at him again before sliding forward until she was positioned between his parted legs. She rested her forearms against his thighs and pushed his t shirt up slightly, before dipping her fingers under the waistband of his sweatpants. She looked up at him. His eyes were dark and his lips still parted as he stared right at her.

"Tess, you don't have to..." He grumbled, his voice a little breathy.

"I want to. If thats ok," She punctuated the end of each sentence by kissing his now visible v lines - first the left, then the right.

Brandon swallowed hard again. When she looked back at him he gave her a single nod. Tessa smiled and tugged on his sweatpants. He lifted himself slightly off the couch so she could pull them down to his calves. Bringing herself up again, she kissed him through the thin material of the briefs. Brandon exhaled loudly as she grazed her lips up his length, stopping just before the tip and looking up at him again. His brow was furrowed and his bottom lip had dropped even more so than before. She winked at him as she took her lips away from the outline in his briefs and landed them in a line of kisses along the waistband. She could feel his lower stomach twitch at every touch. 

Catching his eye again, she raised her eyebrows in a silent question as she tucked her fingers under the waistband of his briefs. He nodded quickly this time and lifted his hips so she could slide them down his legs to join the sweatpants. 

When Tessa wrapped her hand around his length Brandon moaned loudly, his head dropping back against the couch. She chuckled slightly at how responsive he was and began to stroke him slowly. Unable to tease him for very long due to the obscene noises he was making, she brought her lips to his shaft and slowly took it into her mouth. His head flew forward again to watch her as she rolled her tongue over the tip.

"Jesus... Tess," He murmured. 

She sped up the strokes of her hand as she worked his tip for a while, before stilling her hand at the base so she could slide her mouth further down his length, pausing when he hit the back of her throat. She could hear the most ridiculous moans coming from him as he responded to the feeling. Deciding her gag reflex would only cause embarrassment if she took him any further, she slowly pulled off him, hollowing her cheeks and pressing her tongue against him. When she was far enough up to steal a glance at him she felt herself shiver slightly at the sight of his sedated, happy face. 

She pulled off him completely with an obscene pop and he giggled breathlessly.

"You're so hot," He shook his head, reaching a hand out to stroke her face and push her hair back slightly. 

Tessa grinned at him and brought her hand to his shaft again, moving quickly this time as he let out more gorgeous moans. They were enough to distract her for a second, and she had to shake herself out of her daydream to place a series of small licks against his slit. Brandon writhed under her and she began to taste the first drops of pre-cum on her tongue.

"Shit," He breathed, drawing out the word as her tongue touched him again, "Oh my gosh. That's so good, baby."

Tessa responded by swirling her tongue around his tip before taking him about a third of the way into her mouth again. She bobbed her head up and down, working the remaining length with her hand.

Brandon began to whine and buck into her mouth ever so slightly. Tessa drew her lips away and looked up at him. His brows were furrowed and his eyes closed as he enjoyed the sensations. His chest was moving up and down rapidly and when his lower stomach began to twitch slightly as she continued to move her hand she knew he was close. 

"Tess..." He breathed, his eyes opening to meet her gaze, "I'm so... I'm gonna come."

She nodded and brought her mouth back to his tip. He gasped slightly and tangled his fingers in her hair, tugging her away a little but stopping when he caught her gaze again and saw that she was intentionally going back to him. His grip loosened but he kept his hand gently against her head as she swirled her tongue around him once more and dipped his tip into her mouth again. 

"Oh.. Fuck-- Tessa," He grunted as his fingers curled in her hair, causing her to moan around him.

The sensation of the moan was more than he could take and he released into her mouth, breathlessly mumbling her name mixed with a series of swears. Tessa continued to roll her tongue against him until he finished. She pulled off him and held up her finger on one hand while she pushed her fist against her mouth with the other. 

Brandon was splayed out over the couch - his arms slumped against the cushions and his head raised just enough to watch her. He swore under his breath again as she swallowed. The rise and fall of his chest was beginning to slow down as she placed her hands on his knees and pushed herself off the ground. She leant over him with a grin.

"It's the wrong time to tell you I love you, right?"

Tessa snorted, "It sure is. But cool."

He grinned at her and reached up to kiss her slowly. After a couple of seconds they stopped and Brandon blushed and giggled.

"I should pull my pants up."

"I guess," She smiled and kissed him again.

After a slightly longer make-out session Tessa straightened her back and jogged to the bathroom to brush her teeth. When she came back Brandon was standing by the sofa fully dressed again. He shot her a lopsided smile. 

"Stop," She rolled her eyes.

He shrugged, "Can't help it. You're awesome."

"You're a dork."

He grabbed her waist as she tried to walk past him and pulled her close against him, peppering kisses on the nape of her neck. She hummed pleasantly and raised a hand to run her fingers through his curls. 

"We should order pizza," She said suddenly.

Brandon laughed against her neck, "Yeah."


	16. Chapter 16

Tessa woke with a start as her phone buzzed loudly from the bedside table. She swore and grumbled as she swung her hand out to find it, wincing at the clatter of objects that hit the floor as she searched. Locating the shiny surface after a few seconds, she pulled her arm back into bed and swiped her finger across the screen without opening her eyes.

"Hello?" She croaked, tiredness in every letter.

"Tess?" Brandon's quiet voice cut through her sleepiness and made her smile to herself.

"Tess? Did I wake you?"

Shit, she thought, he can't see you smiling, dumbass, say something

"You sure did," She laughed, "But it's fine. It's so nice to hear your voice."

Brandon's giggle echoed down the phone and she guessed he was on the tour bus when his voice faded in and out a little, "You're so much more romantic when your brain isn't fully functioning yet."

"I know. Gross."

Brandon had been gone for a couple of weeks now. He texted her constantly and sent pictures of beautiful landscapes and skylines as he travelled (she would have accused anyone else of showing off, but he seemed so genuinely excited). Their calls had been short and sweet, as they tried to find the balance of the time zones. But it was really the polar opposite of how much time they had spent together since their first date.

"What time is it there?" He asked.

She risked a look at her clock for the first time, "5.30am."

Brandon gasped, "Shit. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you so early. I knew I shouldn't have calculated it in my head."

She shook her head to say it was fine, forgetting for a second again that he couldn't see her. Snapping back into reality she asked, "Where are you?"

Brandon paused, "On the bus. Uh... France?"

"I know that much," She giggled, his tour had started in Spain and he was there for a few weeks doing various festivals before crossing into France, "Can you be more specific?"

Brandon paused again, and she heard muffled noises as he pulled back the curtains.

"There are fields here."

She laughed out loud, "Oh my god. Put Jeremy on, he's the only one who knows anything."

Brandon giggled and protested half heartedly. The road noise she'd heard as he moved closer to the window faded and she guessed he'd sat back down.

"I miss you," She mumbled sleepily.

"I miss you too, baby."

They sat in silence for a few moments, and for a second she could pretend that he was right there with her. She bunched up the sleeves of his sweater (now her sweater, they agreed) as she sat up a little and rubbed her eyes. She brought her knees up to her chest and asked him about the tour, smiling at his enthusiastic answers. It was going great, people knew the songs - which for some reason he had been worried about - and he was loving being back out there again. His voice was holding up, despite his concerns about the songs being slightly different to what he was used to. She was glad he was having a good time, even thought she felt annoyingly lonely now that he wasn't here. Get a grip, Tessa.

"Where did you get the scar on your hip?" She asked suddenly during a lull in the conversation, frowning as the question she had been meaning to ask him popped back into her head unexpectedly.

"On our first tour I fell off the stage," He replied, "No one caught me. I was pretty drunk. But climbing back onto the stage I scratched myself on the corner of a speaker or something. Why are you thinking about the scar on my hip?"

She knew he was smirking even though she couldn't see him. She blushed a little as she thought back to their movie night.

"I've just been curious since I spotted it."

"Why didn't you ask me when you noticed it?"

"Pretty hard to speak with your dick in my mouth."

Brandon spluttered a little and she laughed as she heard a door close followed by the slight woosh of a curtain. They had tried the dirty talk thing but he seemed to overthink things and stress himself out. But even though they couldn't really indulge in that, Tessa still enjoyed hearing his delighted laugh when she said something inappropriate.

"Oh my gosh," He giggled.

"I'm sorry, did someone else hear that?"

"I don't think so. But I have a terrible poker face so I figured I should go to my bunk."

"Good call," She yawned and curled up on her bed.

"I should let you go back to sleep..." He started, softly.

"No!" Tessa groaned, louder than expected, "No. I wanna talk to you, I can sleep under the counter at work. Tom won't mind."

He chuckled then asked in a slightly concerned voice, "How is work? Any more issues?"

"Some of them ask about you," She replied honestly, referring to the new customers the shop had gotten since the article exposing their relationship, "My boss doesn't mind. It's all good business, for him. He was only slightly pissed I didn't tell him sooner so he could publicise it himself."

Brandon sighed, "I'm sorry. I hate that you're having to deal with my stuff at work. You didn't ask for that."

"Brandon, it's fine. Besides, it's pretty fun answering their questions. They asked me if you still had the Morrissey pillow and I said you couldn't sleep without it."

Brandon groaned, "I regret telling you about that."

"I'm still not convinced you don't hide it when I come over."

\--

Brandon ran his hand up and down his jaw and stared at his phone. He had thought calling Tessa and finally getting to hear her voice would ease his desire to fly back home immediately and see her - but it hadn't. He groaned and banged his fist gently against the wall of his bunk, trying to shake himself out of the negativity he had landed in. That was the longest conversation they had managed to have so far, he should be grateful for that. But it wasn't enough. He definitely wasn't cut out for a long distance relationship, finding himself immediately a little emotional every time he heard Tessa's voice.

"Should have fucking asked her to come with me," He grumbled to himself.

A voice cut through his self pity and he jumped, "She mightn't have said yes!"

He rolled his curtain back to see Ted, the guitarist from his solo band, looking down at him with a sympathetic smile.

"Have you been there the whole time?!"

Ted chuckled, "I only just woke up a couple of minutes ago. Everything I heard was PG."

Brandon blushed. There was no way he could be anything other than PG. The one time they had tried dirty talk he triple checked the bus was empty, but was overcome with embarrassment and couldn't do it anyway, which Tessa seemed to find kind of hilarious.

"Sorry," Brandon frowned, realising this was how the other guys with spouses and significant others felt all the time, "You've been dealing with this for much longer than me."

Ted shrugged, "It's all good. It gets easier. You'll find the right way to deal with being apart and you learn to make the most of being together."

Brandon nodded but stayed serious. The guitarist sighed and swung his legs over the edge of his bunk to give Brandon his full attention.

"Ok. So if you wanted Tessa to come with you, why didn't you ask?"

"She mightn't have wanted to."

"Or she might have."

Brandon half-laughed but shook his head, "No. She doesn't have the money."

Ted raised his eyebrows, his eyes a little judging.

"I know, I know!" Brandon protested, "But she wouldn't let me. She barely lets me pay for dinner let alone a trip like this."

"You could offer her a job? One extra crew member wouldn't hurt?"

Brandon shook his head again, "She's worked for a boyfriend before."

Ted nodded silently, picking up from Brandon's facial expression that that arrangement hadn't worked out for Tessa before. Brandon groaned. He knew he was being selfish. Just because he missed Tessa didn't mean she should abandon her life in Vegas to come with him as he worked. She had a job, rent, friends... a whole life. And he had only recently become a part of that. As much as she might want to travel and to be with him, it wouldn't be fair on her. As he looked up, he saw Ted looking back at him sympathetically. Brandon never had been able to hide his emotions.

"Yeah, you're going around in circles," He laughed, "We've all been there. Seems impossible until you find what works for you. Both of you."

Brandon gave him a tight lipped smile in appreciation. He knew Ted was right. He just wished he had a solution that would let her be here with him. She would love the travelling, and really it would be no extra cost other than the flights and food since she would stay with him. But as his mind drifted back to the panic attack she had had at the memory of her ex boyfriend, he knew that it had to be her call. He didn't want to put her in a position where she felt trapped or secondary to him.

"Brandon!"

For the second time that day he jumped out of his skin when a voice cut through his thoughts. He really needed to get out of his own head. He hopped off his bunk and stuck his head around the door into the small living space.

"Brandon," Jeremy continued when he appeared, "We're nearly there. You have interviews for most of the rest of the afternoon, you should get ready to go as soon as we stop. Probably 30 minutes."

He nodded and sighed inwardly. It was going to be a long day.


	17. Chapter 17

"Happy birthday, girl!" Tom grinned at Tessa as she walked into the cafe.

She giggled as he swept her into a hug, mumbling her thanks against his shoulder. As he released her he grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to face a giant bouquet of gardenias on the sideboard. It didn't take a lot of work to figure out who they were from, especially considering Tom was bouncing up and down beside her and squealing in glee.

"Can you believe he's real? I can't believe he's real," Tom shook his head, "That's pretty fucking adorable."

Tessa rolled her eyes with a grin and reached for the card balancing between two stems. It had a heart scrawled on one side, with a note on the other:

Happy birthday, baby!  
I'm sorry we won't be able to talk today. I hope these substitute Flowers make up for it a little.

"'Substitute Flowers'," Tom chuckled from over her shoulder where he was spying, "He's so corny. I love him."

Tessa shoved his shoulder lightly and tucked the note into her pocket, but she couldn't hide the smile plastered across her face. Brandon had explained when he called her yesterday that as much as he wanted to talk to her on her birthday, he'd be stuck in travel mode all day. The signal had been patchy every time he called her from the bus, so she wasn't surprised that he was going to wait until he had somewhere more reliable and private to speak to her.

Tom appeared again from behind the staffroom door. Clutched between his hands was a little cupcake with a towering layer of blue frosting. A candle shaped like a shooting star was sticking out of it precariously. She laughed out loud as he over-dramatically sang the traditional song and tentatively began to take a few steps towards her, trying to shelter the flame with one hand. Reaching the end of the song before he'd even made it half way there, Tessa closed the gap, blowing out the candle and rubbing her thumb against his cheek in appreciation.

Tom had, in previous years, tried to insist she take the day off and let him cover the shop on his own. But Tessa had barely celebrated her birthday since she was a teenager, and besides, the rent wasn't going to pay itself and she'd just feel guilty taking more time off work than necessary. He'd eventually given up trying, but always made sure to do a little special something for her each year. She appreciated it very much - he was the closest thing to family she had in the city.

"Apparently this frosting tastes like those weird candies you like," Tom scrunched up his nose as they hopped up on stools either side of one of the tables.

Tessa nodded, "Gross. I can't wait."

Tom grimaced as she cut the cake in half. Picking up the slice closest to him, he sniffed it cautiously before reaching out his hand to Tessa. She snickered and bumped their fists together in a sort of makeshift cheers, before taking a huge bite. Tom nodded slowly as he chewed.

"Horrifying," He said eventually, "It really does taste like that. Why do you only like pain and suffering?"

Tessa laughed and finished off her half of the treat with a shrug. She'd always liked sour candies. Especially ones like this that caught you off guard when you got through the initial sugary taste. She was about to respond when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Whipping it out, she mouthed an apology to Tom before dipping into the storeroom to take the call.

"Hey Mamma! Oh thank you so much!"

\--

"Can't we just go back to mine and watch a movie and maybe get a little drunk?" Tessa groaned, wrapping her arms around Tom's waist and banging her head lightly against his chest.

He snickered and pushed her away, "No! I'm not letting you celebrate your 27th birthday wine-drunk on the floor of your apartment! Tonight, we get champagne drunk in a nice bar like real adults!"

Tessa raised an eyebrow.

"Fine," Tom admitted, "Prosecco drunk. And then we keep the rest of our money to pay our rent, like real adults."

Tessa narrowed her eyes as she watched him finish balancing the cash drawer, studiously avoiding eye contact. It had been a pretty straightforward day at work, which had allowed her more than a few opportunities to notice Tom religiously checking his phone. He couldn't lie for shit. This was a surprise party. He looked back at her with wide, innocent eyes and she was even more sure - but she couldn't burst his bubble after he had done such a good job (by his standards) keeping it a secret. She shook her head and smiled, turning back to wiping down the tables.

"You know, don't you?" He sighed after a few minutes of silence.

"I think I might," She chuckled.

Tom groaned, "I thought I was doing so good!"

"You're the worst liar ever, you did so well for... what you could do."

"Gee, thanks," He snorted, "Ok. You just have to act surprised though. I promise I kept it to your taste, there will only be like 50 people."

"50?" Tessa spun around, "I know 50 people in this city?"

Tom smacked his hand against his head and looked at her sheepishly as if he'd given away another secret. Oh. She realised. He'd invited her friends from around the country. She dropped the cloth she was holding and and grinned at him, walking over and kissing his forehead.

"You're the best friend a girl could ask for. And the worst secret-keeper."

\--

Tessa's face hurt from smiling so much. Three hours into the 'surprise' party and she was starting to feel the effects of a full day at work followed by alcohol that inevitably made her sleepy. But it was awesome. Tom really had kept the evening to her taste, and had invited only people she was genuinely thrilled to see. There was just one missing - but she really couldn't think about that right now.

"Shots?" A voice appeared by her side.

Spinning around from where she stood leaning against the bar and trying to keep her eyes open, she was greeted by Ronnie grinning teasingly beside her. She groaned out loud and stifled a laugh.

"Fair enough," He chuckled and leaned beside her with his glass of something that looked a lot stronger than she could handle right now.

Catching the bartender's attention he ordered a water and slid it in front of Tessa. He indicated an empty booth beside the bar and held his arm out as she pushed herself off the surface she had been leaning on and joined him.

"I'm fine, asshole," She snorted.

Ronnie laughed, "Whatever you say. I've never seen anyone put away that much whisky in such a short space of time."

"Half Scottish," Tessa shrugged and dropped down onto the soft seats, "It's in my blood."

Ronnie nodded and took a sip of his own drink. Glancing up, his face lit up and he beckoned a man towards them.

"Tessa," He started, "This is Dave. Keuning. The third Killer."

Tessa stood up and shook Dave's hand, a little embarrassed that she had seen Ronnie welcome him into the bar earlier but had been too surrounded by people to go say hi. In the hubbub, she had kind of forgotten to find them after.

"Dave, this is Tessa."

"I know," Dave smiled warmly, "I mean, we've never been introduced but I did get coffee with Brandon in your shop once. Well, I had coffee and he stared at you and barely spoke to me for 45 minutes. Fun times."

Tessa nodded, "I remember your hair." Man, I'm drunk.

Ronnie snorted and downed the remainder of his drink. Tessa gawped at him.

"Ok, what the hell is in that?" She frowned, "There's no way you're this sober after slamming drinks like that."

"This is a mocktail," He grinned, "I'm a designated driver."

Tessa started gawping again, much to Ronnie's amusement. She'd never have placed him as the designated driver type. As her bleary brain tried to process the information, Dave glanced at his phone and began to stand up.

"I gotta get out of here," He apologised, "Happy birthday and nice to meet you, Tessa!"

She thanked him as he kissed her cheek. Suddenly remembering her glass of water, she gulped it down as Ronnie stood to mutter to Dave before waving him off and looking back towards her.

"Ok, drunkie," Ronnie raised his eyebrows, "Time to go home?"

Tessa nodded and pinched her cheeks. It might have been a mistake to sit in these comfy chairs. Ronnie chuckled as he reached out his arm, which she gratefully accepted this time. Fortunately, Ronnie stood right by her, allowing her to lean on him as much as she needed to as she thanked and said goodbye to each person she passed as they made their way to the door. When they reached the carpark, Tom was sitting on the ground with his back against the wheel of Ronnie's car. His legs were splayed out in front of him and right into the next parking spot.

"What a smart place to set up camp!" Ronnie shook his head but grinned at Tom, who reached his arms upwards when he saw them.

"Ronnieeeeee," He squealed, "My knight in shining armour!"

Tessa shot Ronnie a playful questioning look and he shrugged. She knew Tom had a crush on Ronnie. They had been hanging out a lot lately, and Ronnie often dropped into the cafe where the two would talk for hours on end, leaving Tessa to pick up the slack. In fact, she was pretty sure Ronnie had been invited tonight more for Tom's benefit than hers. Ronnie grabbed Tom's hands and pulled him off the ground, keeping hold of his hands to steady him once he was on his feet. Tom pushed his finger against Ronnie's lips and shushed him.

"Secret!" He giggled, glancing at Tessa.

Tessa snorted, "Oh honey, the secret's out! You did a good job keeping it. And thank you for all your planning."

Ronnie grinned and lifted Tom into the backseat as he muttered to himself. He even reached around him and did up his seatbelt - successfully, despite Tom's desperate attempts to wriggle free. He huffed as he shut the door and shook his head at Tessa.

"Ok you were right," He laughed breathily, "You are not that bad. That is a real drunk person."

\--

Tessa groaned as she forced her eyes open in response to the gentle shaking of her shoulder. Ronnie looked down at her sympathetically as she sat upright in his car, slowly realising that they were parked outside her apartment. She glanced over her shoulder to spot Tom, lying back in his seat with his mouth wide open and gentle snores coming from it.

Ronnie shook his head when she looked back at him sympathetically, "It's all good. I'll bring him to my place. If I can get him out of the car."

Tessa laughed quietly and gratefully accepted the bottle of water Ronnie held out to her. She felt wide awake now and realised she must have been asleep for the whole journey - at least an hour. Amazingly, she also felt less drunk and not yet in the stages of a hangover except for her parched mouth. Opening the door as quietly as possible, she thanked Ronnie for coming to the party and for the ride home. As she slipped out of the seat, Tom raised his head and looked at her blearily.

"I can keep a secret," He slurred, "Very good. Very good at secret keeping."

Tessa laughed out loud and shook her head. She glanced at Ronnie as she shut the door but he just smiled and shrugged.

The climb up the stairs to her apartment door felt like a long way, and she could still see the headlights of Ronnie's car outside. He must have been waiting to check she got into her apartment. That was nice.

She yawned loudly as she turned the key in the lock, waving over her shoulder even though she knew it must be impossible that Ronnie could see her through the darkness and the glass. Wincing as the harsh light of her kitchen reached her sensitive eyes, she groaned then started, her eyes flying wide open.

"Brandon?!"

"Hey baby," Brandon smiled back at her from where he was sitting on a stool at her kitchen island, "Happy birthday."

Tessa shrieked, forgetting the neighbours and taking a running jump at her boyfriend as he stood up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder as he tucked his hands under her butt.

"You really didn't figure out I was coming?" He giggled delightedly.

She shook her head against his shoulder, enjoying his familiar scent too much to look up just yet.

"I thought Tom would have let it slip."

"Tom knew?" She snorted, her face finally flying backwards to look at him.

Brandon was looking back at her with the biggest grin on his face, "Of course Tom knew. How else could I get you out of your apartment all evening to cook this five star meal?"

Tessa finally forced herself to look away from him and at the table where two plates of fresh waffles and whipped cream awaited them.

"Ronnie called when you were leaving so I knew when to start cooking," Brandon anticipated her question, "Although it took a couple of tries. There are a lot of burnt waffles in your trashcan. Oh, and I bought us a waffle iron."

Tessa laughed and finally released Brandon from the vice grip she had been holding him in. She ran her fingers up and down his arms, tracing the vein that ran from the top of his bicep to his hand.

"You're here," She said softly, starting to feel a little emotional. Oh ok, not totally sober yet.

Brandon giggled, "I am here. And you're hungry. And a little drunk."

Tessa glanced at the waffles and nodded. She looked at Brandon again and took him in. He looked sleepy but happy. His hair was sticking out in wild curls at all angles (the hair of someone who had been travelling all day) and his chin had a smattering of stubble across it. His left sleeve was hitched up meaning the neck of his t-shirt was hanging open across his shoulder, where she could see the line of the necklace he always wore disappearing under the material. Did his shirt say 'battleporn'? As she continued to scan downwards he wiggled his toes through a pair of 'Welcome to Las Vegas' printed socks.

"You're the worst person."

"These are a perfectly good pair of socks."

She raised an eyebrow at him and he giggled again. Damn she had missed that dumb little noise. 

"Ok. They were a gift," He rolled his eyes as she continued to stare at him, "They were a gift from Liam Gallagher. I guess I talked about Las Vegas too much. But Liam Gallagher gave me a gift and I'll be damned if I'm not gonna make the most of it."

Tessa laughed, the laughter fading into a genuinely thrilled smile as Brandon brought his hands to her face and stroked over her cheekbones with his thumbs. She melted as she looked into his soft and slightly crinkled eyes. The specks of green in their hazel depths seemed even more pronounced with his happy expression. She hoped he was seeing as much love in her eyes as she was in his.

"I missed you," He said softly, before bringing their lips together slowly and gently.

Tessa hummed into the kiss and gripped the end of his t-shirt where her hands were placed at his hips. Brandon smiled against her lips at the sensation and pulled away.

"Eat your damn waffles. I worked hard!"


	18. Chapter 18

Brandon groaned as the harsh ringing of an alarm woke him. Instinctively, he swung his arm to where the small ledge on the side of his bunk should have been, waking himself up more when his hand only met air. He opened one eye to the unfamiliarly large and bright room that had replaced the claustrophobic bunk he was expecting to see. Suddenly remembering he was in Tessa's flat in Vegas rather than some unknown road in Europe, he turned his head and smiled sleepily at the splay of hair across the pillow - under which Tessa presumably was, although he couldn't really see any of her face. He sat up, lifting her arm from where it was draped over his midriff so he could climb out of bed. Scratching his head, he tried to follow the sound.

"Son of a--" He muttered as he tripped over something in the dim light trickling through the curtains. His own jeans, he realised as he pulled the item out of the way.

"Dresser," Tessa's voice startled him slightly. 

His heart skipped a little as he looked at her. Her long hair was pushed back from her face and she was sleepily rubbing her eyes with both hands. He'd definitely made the right choice in coming home during his few days off. This was a much better feeling than moping around a European city. He followed the direction of her outstretched finger until he found the source of the noise on the dresser. Hitting buttons at random on the small device, he finally silenced it and yawned. 6.30am. Way too early for how late they'd stayed up eating waffles and catching up. As he turned around, Tessa was swinging her legs out of bed.

"Hey! Woah!" He protested, striding over to her and bending down to place his hands on either side of her body, blocking her from standing up. 

She twirled her fingers through his hair with a contented smile. He tried to ignore the pleasant feeling and look as serious as possible. 

"No."

"No?" She snorted, pecking her lips against his, "I have to get to work."

"No."

"Brandon, I literally have to go to work. As much as Tom supports this," She smirked slightly and trailed her pointer finger down his neck and chest sending shivers through him, "He can't run the shop on his own."

Brandon shook his head and grabbed her thighs, pushing her backwards into the bed and hopping back in himself. She groaned and tried to wriggle free from where his knees pinned her down, one on either side of her hips.

"You have three days off," He mumbled, bending down to kiss her head as she stopped wriggling against him, "Part of the surprise. Should have told you last night."

Tessa sighed in relief, "Thank fuck. I don't wanna vomit in anyone's coffee."

Brandon laughed and lay down on top of her, burying his face in her shoulder. He quietly hummed a tune he'd been thinking about recently as she played with his hair, soothingly running her fingertips along the back of his neck. Between her hangover and his jet lag, he could happily stay like this all day.

"That's nice," She said softly, "Something new?"

Brandon propped himself up on his elbows and looked at her, "Yeah."

"Do you ever stop working?"

"Can't."

"Does it have words?"

He kissed the tip of her nose, grateful and kind of amazed that she wanted to hear his work when her eyes were barely open and she could just go back to sleep. Rolling onto his back beside her, he smiled to himself as she tucked her body against his and squeezed him. 

If you call my name  
I will run whether or not it's tonight  
Or the life to come

He sang softly, his voice fading out when he reached the end of what he had been brainstorming on the plane. Tessa stroked her hand across his stomach as he sang and he felt his lower body tense as her fingers ran absentmindedly over the waistband of his briefs in the silence that followed. 

"Cute."

They lay peacefully for a while, Tessa dozing in and out of sleep as they each told stupid stories about their time apart or their lives in general. It occurred to Brandon that he still didn't know Tessa all that well, and his heart sank at the thought of leaving her again in a few days. 

Eventually, when they got hungry they made their way into the kitchen. Brandon pulled open a cupboard and held up a box of pop tarts with a grin. 

"In case the waffles failed," He giggled and slid them into the toaster, "I told you I'm not much of a cook."

"You don't say," Tessa examined her trashcan, where the remnants of four or five batches of burnt waffles lay.

Brandon shrugged, "I figured it out, didn't I?"

Tessa rolled her eyes but chuckled at him, and poured them each a cup of coffee. When the toaster popped, she led the way into the living room so they could settle on some comfier seats. Brandon let out a loud, high-pitched yelp as they entered the room. She frowned at his frozen body and followed the line of his widened eyes. 

"Are you scared of spiders?" She raised an eyebrow at him. 

He paused and looked between her and it, "No..."

As Tessa set their coffees down on the table the spider moved slightly. Brandon squeaked again and leapt onto the couch. He blushed as Tessa burst out laughing at the ridiculous sight in front of her. He stood on one leg, rubbing the sole of his foot against his ankle in nervousness. He was wearing bright blue briefs with little stars on them and a black t-shirt, and clutching the plate of pop tarts. She shook her head at him as she picked up a shoe and began to creep slowly along the living room towards the spider. Despite his heart racing a mile a minute, he giggled as she tiptoed across the room with her tongue poking between her lips in concentration. Fuck, I love you. 

As Tessa brought the shoe down on the spider, Brandon winced.

"You killed it!" He pouted at her.

"Hey! One of us had to do something," She rolled her eyes then paused and looked at him thoughtfully.

"What?" He frowned, taking a break from scanning the floor for signs of other spiders.

"You called yourself 'daddy' in a song. A song you released to millions of people." She gestured at him where he stood on the safety of the couch still gripping the plate of pop tarts like a shield.

Brandon blushed and shook his head at her, "Songs are just stories."

"Uh huh. So you don't wanna be called 'daddy'?"

Brandon whined as he stepped delicately off the couch, "Can we please deal with one issue at a time?" He indicated the dead creature.

Tessa snorted and scooped up the remains in a tissue, giggling at Brandon's jumpiness as she passed him to get to the trashcan in the kitchen. When she returned he was sitting on the couch with his knees pulled up against his chest. 

"Yeah," She teased, "It's a known fact they can't get you if your feet don't touch the ground. The only thing that can thwart a spider is a good game of 'the floor is lava'."

Brandon blushed and smiled sheepishly at her, "You're so mean to me."

"Hey! I saved your ass, didn't I?"

"You murdered him."

"Him?" She giggled as she sat down, "Ok, so in your apartment, on your own, what would you have done?"

Brandon thought for a second as he chewed on his breakfast, "Call Ronnie. He catches them and puts them outside." 

\--

Brandon turned on the water and stuck his foot through the shower door to check the temperature. When he was satisfied it was bearable, he hopped through the door and straight under the jets. He looked down as the orangey-red dust of the desert began to swirl around his feet, standing out shockingly against the white surface. Somehow, Tessa had agreed to go on a short hike with him despite her hangover and he felt immensely lucky for the thousandth time that day that he had someone like her to come home to. Hiking on his own kind of paled in comparison to seeing her wonder-filled eyes when he pointed out a great view or a herd of bighorn sheep. He forgot sometimes that she hadn't lived in the desert all her life.

Snapping out of his daydream, he reached up to run the water through his hair, subconsciously speeding up when he remembered he didn't get to stay here that long. He didn't want to miss a moment longer than necessary with Tessa. 

He jumped slightly when he heard a click of the door opening and felt a draught hit his skin. Tessa's small hand ran over his back and she snickered at him clutching his chest in fright. 

"You scared me," He giggled.

"Why?" She smirked back at him as she took the shampoo from the shelf and began to pour it into her palm, "I only have two legs. Not eight."

Brandon rolled his eyes and flicked some water at her, making her squeal. 

"Put your head forward," She said softly. 

He obliged and sighed happily as she massaged the liquid into his hair, careful not to let any of the lather run into his eyes. As she reached the back of his neck he placed his hands on her hips to steady himself.

"Ok, rinse."

He let go of her to tip his head backwards. When he looked back at her she was working on her own hair with her hands above her head. Holy shit she was gorgeous.

"Brandon," She giggled at his reddened cheeks, "You've seen me naked before. A few times."

"I know," He spluttered a little, "Doesn't make it any less overwhelming. You're so beautiful."

It was Tessa's turn to blush furiously, making Brandon giggle in delight. She shoved his shoulder lightly and he grabbed her arm, pulling her to his chest so their bodies were pressed against each other under the water. 

"Beautiful," He kissed her gently, tugging on the ends of her shampoo-covered hair to tilt her face up to his, "So. Damn. Beautiful."

"Speak for yourself," She laughed nervously, avoiding his eye contact as he looked down at her and boring her eyes into his chest instead. 

"You have to learn to take a compliment."

He gently stroked his hands down her back, watching as she smiled and placed her hand over his heart. He shivered a little as she finally looked up at him through her eyelashes, her dark brown eyes telling him everything she hadn't yet said out loud. 

"Thank you, Brandon," She said softly. 

"Anytime, beautiful."

"Stop," She groaned, but the tension in her body had gone and she was giggling despite her protests.

"Stop what, beautiful?"

"Do you know other words?"

Brandon raised an eyebrow at the challenge she didn't realise she'd given. Spotting his smirk she began to protest again but he placed a finger against her lips. 

"Gosh, you're so demanding," He tutted jokingly, "Ok, how about. Gorgeous. Stunning. Incredible--"

"We're wasting so much water," She groaned, causing Brandon to pull her closer and cover her mouth with his hand.

"Unbelievable. Stupendous. Magnificent--"

He paused as he felt her lips move under his hand, pulling it away so she could speak.

"I'm not a magician," She sassed.

Brandon pinched her butt and she squealed and tried to turn away from him but he wrapped his arms around her again too quickly, pulling her back against him so this time her back was on his chest. He had to lift his chin to avoid the lather of the shampoo she hadn't been able to rinse out yet as he brought his hand back up to cover her mouth.

"Lovely. Remarkable. Intoxicating. So fucking sexy--"

Tessa bit his middle finger and he took his hand away from her mouth again.

"Ok," She laughed, "This has taken a turn, should I get this shampoo out of my hair before it escalates?"

Brandon giggled and turned her around again, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Wonderful. Wonderful."

Tessa rolled her eyes but the smile on her face gave away her feelings. She stood on her toes to place a kiss against his lips, humming appreciatively. He eventually let her go and she turned to rinse her hair. 

"Wait!"

She raised her eyebrows at him, standing just outside the stream of water, "Can I help you?"

Brandon furrowed his brows and tiled his head slightly at the way part of her hair was sticking up from the shampoo.

"Could we make your hair into a giant spike? Like a Who?"


	19. Chapter 19

Tessa watched curiously as Tom rambled his way through a story about his time in UNLV. The evening had started as a group event, but it was becoming clearer and clearer that all of Tom's attention was on the man next to him. Ronnie had his whole body turned to face Tom, with one arm over the back of his chair and a small smile constantly on his lips. She watched them for a second more then turned to Brandon and pinched his arm where it was draped over her legs, his gaze intently on Tom as he told his story. He looked down at her questioning face and shrugged - completely oblivious to the messages she was trying to send.

"We're gonna get more drinks!" She said suddenly.

"Oh I think they'll come to the table here--"

"Same again?" She cut Ronnie off and tugged on Brandon's hand until he stood up and followed her.

"Are you ok?" He asked, looking concerned as she ordered their drinks.

"Do you think there's something going on with Ronnie and Tom?"

She had been racking her brains all evening for whether Brandon or Ronnie had mentioned anything about Ronnie's sexuality. All she could remember was that he had hooked up with a woman in San Francisco before he crashed with them. She knew it was none of her business except that she really didn't want Tom to get hurt - and she knew he really liked Ronnie.

Brandon's brow furrowed and he looked back over to their table where Tom's head was thrown back in laughter, "I don't know. They seem to get along fine."

"No, Brandon," She giggled at his obliviousness, "I don't mean do they hate each other. The opposite actually..."

Brandon's eyebrows flew up as the penny dropped, "Oh my gosh!"

Tessa shushed him as Tom and Ronnie turned to look at them. She pulled his face away from staring at them.

"I mean I don't know for sure," She said softly, still holding his cheek as he tried to turn around to peek at them again, "Does Ronnie even... like guys?"

He hummed and nodded.

"Ok so it's possible he could like Tom?"

"I don't see why not. He's dated more women than men so I don't really know what his type is."

Tessa breathed out a sigh of relief. At least Tom wasn't placing his bets on something that for sure wasn't going to work out. She let go of Brandon's cheek and he immediately turned his head to stare at the two men.

"Tom's gay?"

Tessa's jaw dropped and she eyed Brandon. He wasn't kidding.

"Um, yeah," She said slowly, "You never noticed him hitting on guys in the shop? You never noticed him hitting on you?"

Brandon shrugged, "I just thought he was being friendly."

"Even that time you came in late and he made a joke about coffee not being the only thing that could keep you up all night?"

"Darlin'," He sighed, "If you think I was able to pay attention to anything other than you in that cafe, you are mistaken. He could have been throwing orgies behind the counter and I would not have noticed."

Tessa giggled and Brandon kissed her head tenderly before heading back to the table where Ronnie was leaning even closer to Tom than before. As Brandon set the two men's drinks down, neither looked up from their conversation. Tessa tapped Brandon's arm lightly and gestured with her head to another empty booth a few metres away.

"Let them have some space," She said, handing his drink to him and taking a sip of her own as they made their way across the room.

"Damn, good call," Brandon laughed when they sat down.

Tessa followed his gaze to where Tom was practically sitting in Ronnie's lap with his tongue down the drummer's throat. Their drinks sat untouched in front of them.

"Oh my. Well, we were definitely invited here as an icebreaker."

Brandon nodded and smiled at her sleepily, making her feel a little guilty that she'd dragged his jet-lagged ass to the bar. She had finally gotten out of the shower to a text from Tom, inviting both her and Brandon for a drink. Feeling guilty that she'd left him hungover and running the cafe with a part-time teenage barista who undoubtedly was little help, she'd agreed. And after a few minutes of doing his best to use his mouth on her neck to change her mind, Brandon had agreed too. They'd arrived to find both Ronnie and Tom waiting for them and had actually had a really enjoyable night up, despite it now being clear Tom had ulterior motives. Tessa smiled to herself. She was happy for Tom. Ronnie was cool.

They were both really grateful to Tom for his work in planning and keeping Brandon's trip a surprise, and any other day she was sure they would have been less reluctant to hang out with him. It was just that when Brandon had arrived, Tessa had been too drunk and Brandon had been too tired for them to do much more than eat waffles and talk for a little bit. The whole of today had been spent enjoying each other's company, and it was only after having her body pressed against Brandon's in the shower that Tessa realised how much she was craving more.

She watched Brandon take a sip of his drink, suddenly finding the rise and fall of his Adam's apple the sexiest thing she'd ever seen. It didn't help that he had his arm over her leg again and was lightly tapping at her thigh with his long thumb. Coughing a little and trying to think of something to say that wasn't inappropriate in public, she shuffled in her seat. Brandon glanced down at her with a smirk. So he'd noticed her staring. Tease.

He leaned in and brushed her hair away from her neck with his free hand, the other now purposefully rubbing circles against her denim-clad thigh. She shivered slightly as his mouth came to her ear, her body way over-responsive thanks to how long it had been since they'd done anything.

"You hungry?" Brandon asked quietly, his hot breath on her neck making her squirm even with this most innocent question.

She nodded a little. She was hungry. It was just that another instinct was overwhelming that one right now. Brandon grinned and took his mouth away from her ear.

"Great!" He said, clapping his hands together, "Me too!"

\--

It was 30 minutes of tension filled waiting until their food finally arrived. Brandon definitely knew she wanted him. He had smirked to himself the whole time, his pupils dilated a little too wide and his conversation aimed a little too suggestively to be innocent. As the waitress set down their food, he slid around to the other side of the table to give them each more space to eat.

Tessa decided to take advantage of the fact he was no longer close enough to be constantly driving her crazy and get her own back. She sighed and stretched out her legs, placing one on the seat in front of her. Of course, Brandon happened to be occupying that seat, and he looked down as her foot rested against the bench between his legs, centimetres away from his crotch. He raised an eyebrow.

"Mind those heels," He said, a little gruffly, and she grinned at him.

"Relax. You made me hike all day, I gotta stretch my legs somehow."

Brandon narrowed his eyes at her and hummed in suspicious agreement. She put on her best innocent face and began to tuck into the pizza in front of her. After wolfing down her first slice, making Brandon giggle at the speed at which she ate (she was hungry, damn it), she reached for some of the spicy fries they were sharing. She let out a moan of enjoyment as she took a bite. The fries here were so good and pretty much the main reason her and Tom came to this place so frequently. She was about to go for another couple of fries when she glanced up at Brandon to see him staring back at her with a look in his eyes she was starting to recognise.

"I never thought I'd be jealous of a bowl of fries," He said with a half smile.

Tessa laughed, feeling vindicated that he was clearly missing the physical aspect of their relationship as much as she was. Annoyingly, he could make her laugh as easily as he could turn her on, so she abstained from pouncing on him over the table and getting them thrown out of the place. Instead, she decided to make the most of his company until they were somewhere a little more private.

"Eat your wings, Dick."

"I can't believe I'm dating someone who would choose pizza over wings," He sighed dramatically, wrapping one hand around her ankle which was still perched between his legs.

"Italian," Tessa reminded him, pointing at herself, "Also I got food poisoning from bad wings once. Kinda put me off."

Brandon raised one perfect eyebrow, "You can't blame all wings for the sins of one."

She snorted and took a sip of her diet coke, nodding in acceptance and speaking in a deadpan tone to match his, "I know. I just wanna pick the wings that will treat me right this time."

Brandon's serious facade disappeared and his face lit up like a 5 year old's on Christmas, "I know just the wings! There's a little place in Payson that does the best wings. And the best ranch, but that's not the point."

"You're gonna take me to Utah for some damn chicken?"

"No," He said through a mouthful of his own food, clearing his throat and looking back at her earnestly, "I'm gonna take you to Utah to meet my family. But we can also get wings."

Tessa's jaw dropped a little and he smiled and reached for her hand.

"Only if you want to. When I get back from the next stage of the tour. I visit them every year before Christmas and I think you should come with me."

Her heart had dropped through her chest and she couldn't speak for a second, but Brandon just kept his soft eyes on her and rubbed her hand gently with his thumb. Eventually she nodded.

"I want to."

"Great," He grinned at her and squeezed her hand, "They'll love you."

Tessa smiled gratefully at him and returned to wolfing down her food - with Brandon doing the same. They sat in comfortable silence as they ate until Tessa glanced around to check how the other half of their party was doing.

"That's going well," She chuckled, indicating Tom and Ronnie, who were back to having a conversation, both of their faces a little flushed and both giggling like teenagers.

Brandon smiled, "They're cute."

"I know. At this rate, we're gonna have to make the cafe Killers themed."

Brandon snorted, "Have you been dating me to sell more cappuccinos, Miss Campbell?"

"Why else?"

She smirked as Brandon raised his eyebrow and ran his hand up her leg under the table. He stopped halfway up her thigh and dragged his nails down the material, making her skin prickle until he landed back at her ankle, squeezing it slightly before returning to the last bites of his food.

He shrugged, "Worth it. Do you have anyone for Mark and Dave?"

"Our 57 year old boss. Kevin."

Brandon giggled, "They might stick with their girlfriends."


	20. Chapter 20

"I can't believe I've never seen your place before," Tessa frowned at Brandon's back as he unlocked the door.

They had left Ronnie and Tom devouring each other instead of the food they had ordered, and Brandon had suggested they go to his apartment since it was closer. The tension that had been rising between them all evening made Tessa agree without hesitation. It was only now she was here that she had realised this was the first time she was seeing it. 

"We haven't actually been dating that long," Brandon shrugged, pushing the door open and holding his arm out for her to go in first, "Plus, I've been gone for longer than we've spent together."

"Are you saying you're sick of me already?"

"Never."

Kissing the top of her head with a trademark giggle, Brandon hit a light switch and Tessa's eyes widened. She was trying to be cool but... This was a really nice apartment.

"Brandon," She started after a second of staring, "You've been putting up with my place when you have this?"

"I like yours," He shrugged, "It's more homely."

"If by that you mean you could fit my entire apartment into your kitchen, yeah, I guess it is," She muttered, running her hand over the shiny surface of the counter. To be fair, he was right. There wasn't a lot of decor here. You could easily mistake it for an apartment waiting to be sold rather than one that was actually lived in. 

"Yeah," He laughed halfheartedly, "I bought it after our second album. I think I felt like I had to spend my money on something grand, so..." He gestured vaguely around him.

"If you haven't settled, why keep it?"

Brandon grinned with genuine excitement for the first time since they'd walked through the door. Holding out his hand, he took her through the living room and up a beautiful slim marble staircase. Tessa let out little gasps at various features along the way, but laughed out loud when Brandon's hand kept tugging her away from taking a full tour.

"My room," He said, leaning against a door with his eyes still sparkling.

"Damn," Tessa raised her eyebrows, "You don't even offer a girl a drink or anything first? I see how it is."

Brandon giggled and pushed the door open, using the hold he still had on her hand to swing her past him and into the darkened room. She gasped for the millionth time, but this time more in amazement than appreciation.

"Oh shit!"

"I know right?"

Tessa walked slowly forwards to the panoramic view over the city Brandon loved so much. And she could see why. Every colour known to man was lit in glorious neon in front of them. Her eyes couldn't settle on any one thing as she found a new appreciation for the signs she was so used to seeing every day, as well as spotting ones she had never noticed before. In shocking contrast, the expansive dark desert in the distance was eerily beautiful.

"Brandon, this is..."

"I know."

She finally tore her eyes away from the view and tilted her head up to look at him where he was standing close behind her.

"So why haven't you made this place a home?"

Brandon looked at her thoughtfully, then back at the view. She could see his mouth move slightly as he considered her question, and the array of coloured lights reflected in his eyes were hypnotising. He slowly slid his arms around her waist from behind. 

"I grew up in a house with five siblings," He said quietly, "Then I moved in with my aunt and three cousins. Then I lived with Dave for a little bit. I guess I haven't figured out how to live on my own."

He caught Tessa's eye in their reflections, and she guessed he was blushing from the sheepish expression he wore, "That's pathetic, isn't it? Grown-ass man can't bear to be in his own house because he gets lonely."

Tessa turned in his arms until she faced him, where she kissed the dip in his collarbone, "Not at all. This is a big fucking house to be in on your own."

Brandon giggled, "Yeah. I don't know what I was thinking, buying it. Your apartment reminds me of the one Dave and I shared. Except it smells better and I haven't nearly died tripping over a guitar in the night."

"Yet," She teased, flicking his nose and turning back to the view.

Brandon's laughter faded into a deep sigh and she could see his face twist a little in the reflection of the glass.

"Ok," She frowned, turning around again and tapping her finger gently against his head, "What's going on up there?"

Brandon raised his eyebrows in confusion, but she knew something was bothering him. His expression seemed caught between sadness and deep thought every time he thought she wasn't looking. But she was, and she hated seeing him look so uneasy. She watched him in silence until the facade dropped and his face clouded over the way he had been trying to hide.

He grimaced a little and took a step backwards, "I really want you to come with me."

Tessa frowned at him.

"For the last bit of this part of the tour," He explained, stepping forward again until his arms were back around her, seemingly unwilling to let their bodies part for too long, "I know that's a lot to ask and it's selfish, but I want you there and I'd be mad at myself if I went back without asking."

Her heart dropped a little when he said he described himself as selfish. Her issues were her issues, and nothing to do with him. He had no reason to feel guilty about what was actually a really nice idea.

"Brandon, I want to go with you--"

"You do?" His eyes lit up and he looked genuinely surprised.

"Yeah, dummy," She chuckled and examined his face, "Of course I do. It's just..."

"You would be staying with me and eating with the crew! So it's just the cost of the flights, which by the way, I would still pay for if you would let me."

She winced a little. She knew it was ridiculous, and that Brandon was just being honestly generous but she couldn't help but remember how her ex had used their finances against her. The apartment, the job... He had used it against her when she left him, making her feel like she owed him something in return for what he had given her.

"Hey," Brandon said softly, tilting her chin upwards and knocking her out of her thoughts, "You don't have to. It's absolutely your choice. I just wanted to let you know you're welcome. Hell, you're wanted."

She sighed and smiled at him, indicating the two armchairs tucked in the corner of Brandon's bedroom. Holy shit, she caught herself thinking, this is Brandon's bedroom. She snuck a glance around the darkened room as they both took a seat. There was more personality in here than there had been in the kitchen. His bed was haphazardly made and filled with an abundance of cushions, and a precarious stack of notebooks was towered on the floor beside it. Over the bed hung a painting of the desert - simple but beautiful, and very very Brandon. There was little storage, and she wondered if he had a whole room dedicated to his clothes.

"Tess," He giggled quietly, interrupting her daydream, "If you wanna move this to my bed you can just ask."

She rolled her eyes at him and smiled, "Ok," She started, "Don't freak out."

His raised eyebrows made no promises.

"I actually already looked at flights to visit you on the next part of your tour."

Brandon let out a delighted squeak and clapped his hands. She snickered at him, he was way too cute to even be mad about the fact he was most definitely freaking out against her request.

"Brandon!" She laughed and he stopped bouncing in his chair, a grin still plastered across his face, "I looked at flights. I have 4 weeks left in my holiday entitlement for work so taking 2 of those shouldn't be a problem. Especially for right now when the part-timers are looking for as much work as possible between classes. Plus I could factor in a much needed visit to my mum, which basically gives me extra validation to spend that much money..."

Brandon was wiggling in his seat again and she couldn't keep a straight face. Giving in, she stilled her thinking out loud and sighed. Brandon took this as the all-clear to voice his opinions.

"YES!" He cried gleefully, leaping out of his seat and across to pull her into a hug. 

She mumbled against his shirt where she was squeezed tightly against him, patting his back to indicate he should let her go, "I haven't booked it yet, dude. Chill."

"We should do that right now, my laptop is probably in the living room--"

"Brandon! Relax. We can do that tomorrow," She smiled, running her hands over his chest slowly and causing his breath to hitch a little. 

"What do you wanna do now?" He mumbled, moving closer to her so that their lips were barely apart. 

Tessa wished she had more self-control to tease him, but she had been thinking about this moment for far too long now. She crashed their lips together, moaning softly into his mouth as the tension that had built up in the shower and later in the bar resurfaced. Brandon wasted no time in picking her up and walking her backwards to his bed, barely parting their lips as he lay her down and climbed over her. He gently ground his hips into her as she squeezed his body between her legs. Her body demanding more friction than it was getting, Tessa nudged his side with her left leg and he took the hint, rolling over and holding her waist so she was straddling him.

She parted their lips with a smile and pulled her shirt over her head, grabbing his collar to pull him into a seated position where she lifted his shirt off too. Brandon giggled as her hands ran greedily over his skin, unable to settle on any one location. He held her hips and pulled her down against him, groaning as she rubbed against his hardening crotch. 

"Eager today, are we?" Tessa raised an eyebrow as already she felt him through both their jeans. 

Brandon pouted, "It's been almost a month, give me a break."

She snickered and wiggled her hips against him again causing another delectable groan and the tightening of his grip on her waist. Again, her self-control left her and she stood up, yanking her jeans off and watching as Brandon wriggled out of his own pants and briefs at the same time, causing her to subconsciously pause as she stared at his length. Brandon snickered and grabbed the waistband of her panties with one finger, pulling her to the edge of the bed and sliding them down her legs. She kicked them off the rest of the way, climbing back over Brandon's waist and preparing to slide onto him and finally get the release she'd been craving. 

But Brandon had other ideas. He held her waist tightly so she couldn't move her hips to take him in and instead, attacked her neck with wet, open-mouthed kisses. Tessa moaned loudly and she felt him chuckle against her neck as her hips began to move, even without the friction she needed. Fortunately, she was able to reach between them with her hand and start slowly pumping his length.

"You're so goddamn sexy," Brandon breathed as he brought his lips away from her neck and looked down to see her hips moving in time with her strokes. 

Mercifully, Brandon released his grip on her waist and she gratefully ran her thumb over his tip before rolling her hips against him, crashing their lips together again as they both moaned. She stopped their kiss as she heard the familiar rustling of a condom wrapper, and raised her eyebrow when she realised Brandon had located it his back jean pocket.

"Bought it in the bar toilets," He explained a little breathlessly, "Wasn't sure we were gonna make it all the way here."

Tessa blushed a little, even though it was clear Brandon had considered his own self-control as well as noticing the decline in hers. After rolling the condom on, he pulled his hand from between their bodies and ran his fingers gently between her legs, her head lolling back at the unexpected pleasure as she dug her nails slightly into the back of his neck. 

"Fuck, I've missed you," She giggled breathily, meeting his eye again as he smiled up at her.

"I've missed you too," He pushed her hair out of her face before she brought her hips down on him, giving them both the pleasure they'd been craving for so long.


	21. Chapter 21

Brandon nervously wiggled his foot as he tried to get comfortable in his seat, listening carefully as the overheard speaker welcomed them to their flight. His ears pricked up even more as the safety announcements began. He knew them off by heart but that didn't stop his stomach from dropping as he heard the words "if the vehicle lands on water" or "if the oxygen supply fails". He leant down and opened the compartment in front of him to check that his life jacket was there. It was. It always was. But that didn't stop his heart from pounding.

"Hey, Lovejoy," Tessa said softly.

Despite himself, he grinned at the nickname she often used when they were anywhere that other people could be listening. 'Flowers' was pretty identifiable, after all, especially in Las Vegas. He glanced over at her where she was untangling her earbuds and kicking off her shoes in preparation for their 16 hour flight. He felt a calm wash over him as she smiled warmly at him and reached out to stroke across his shoulders, making them drop into a more natural position and forcing him to suck in a deep breath. He smiled back at her appreciatively.

"How are you feeling?" 

"Awful," He admitted bashfully, "But sleepy."

He had taken some of his prescribed anxiety medication while they got ready to board. He'd been trying to learn to cope with flying, but for a long flight he still found it preferable to have something to dull his overactive imagination. The added benefit of this particular solution was that it made him drowsy.

Tessa applied a little pressure to where she was still rubbing his shoulder, and his eyes fluttered shut. As the plane started to roll towards the runway, his heart skipped a little bit again, but she continued to slowly massage him through his t-shirt. Focusing on that feeling was much better than his usual dread of being launched into the sky in a giant metal death box. 

\--

"Brandon. Braaaaandon."

He opened his eyes groggily to see Tessa's smiling face. She was clearly holding back laughter. He groaned and sat up in his chair, which he had hunched all the way down in his sleep and chanced a look out of the nearest window, expecting to see the great expanse of nothingness that they were hurtling through. His eyes widened when he saw tarmac and the outline of a building. 

"Did I sleep the whole time?!"

"Yeah," Tessa snorted, "And what's more, you drooled. Real attractive. Don't worry, I got pics."

\--

"What's it like to be home?" He asked her as they waited in line at border control.

"How did you know I lived in Rome airport?" 

He elbowed her ribs and she giggled.

"Weird. Not as weird as Scotland would be. We only lived in Italy until I was 2 so it doesn't really feel like going home."

Brandon nodded and tugged on the peak of his cap. Normally, by this stage, he would be frantically thinking through everything that could go wrong during his upcoming shows, but Tessa's presence was calming. He was so grateful she had decided to come with him. 

\--

"Brandon Flowers?" A voice called through the slightly sparser crowd gathered at baggage claim. Shit.

Tessa smiled supportively at him as he turned to locate the owner of the voice, a group of about five women smiling back at him. He plastered a smile to his face and let go of Tessa's hand so he could interact with them freely.

He took photos and chatted politely with the women. As he looked up from the last photo, his heart dropped a little. The crowd around them had grown bigger, as curious onlookers and fellow travellers took notice of the apparently famous person in their presence. There must have been about 30 people waiting expectantly for photos and autographs. For the first time since arriving, Brandon became painfully aware that it was just him and Tessa, rather than the small entourage of experienced people that he usually had with him. He wished he could call someone to help Tessa get out of the crowd and to their ride, the tourbus parked outside.

"No kissing," He laughed awkwardly as a blonde girl stood on her toes and placed her hand on his cheek.

The girl's face soured and she glared at Tessa, who was standing at arms length behind him, doing her best to not be in the background of people's photos while staying close enough that he could reach her if he needed to. She raised her eyebrows at the girl, her expression equal measures of shock and indignation. 

"I'm sure your girlfriend won't mind," The girl smiled sickly sweetly at him again and brought her face up to his for the second time.

"But I mind," Brandon said firmly, placing his hand on her shoulder to keep her at a distance, "No kissing."

The girl huffed and muttered a 'thanks, I guess' under her breath. Deliberately walking in Tessa's direction, she shoulder barged her as she began to make her way out of the crowd. 

"Watch it!" Brandon scowled, pulling Tessa to his side defensively.

Tessa stroked his back in an attempt to calm him, nodding that she was ok. Brandon turned back to the waiting crowd (which he could have sworn, was getting bigger rather than smaller), his polite nature battling with his irritation and desire just to run away. It wasn't their fault someone had been rude, and some of them had been waiting so patiently and politely to see him. He decided to suck it up and do his best to acknowledge as many of them as possible.

After a moment, he heard a yelp from the back of the crowd. Someone was trying to force their way forward, and the crowd surged towards him in the chaos. Brandon's instinct to escape overrode his politeness and he grabbed Tessa's hand, apologising to the people immediately near him over the shouts from the back of the crowd. He turned on his heel and began to edge them both out of the arrival lounge, through the path of least resistance. Easier said than done. 

They were being jostled from all angles now, and Brandon felt his anger flare again as someone grabbed his butt with one hand, a camera raised for a selfie in the other. He swore under his breath and kept his head down, squeezing Tessa's hand but not stopping to look back. Another hand slipped under his shirt and onto his stomach and he batted it away harshly. 

"ALRIGHT, EVERYONE BACK, MOVE BACK."

Brandon's head shot up as the thickly Italian accented voice dispersed the crowd. Airport security. About fucking time. As the burly man waved his hands and began to repeat his orders in other languages, Brandon caught the eye of another security guard, who beckoned them over and ushered them into an adjoining room. 

"Fucking hell," Brandon muttered as the door shut behind them. He spun round to Tessa immediately, looking her up and down as if he was expecting signs of injury, "Are you ok? I'm so sorry."

Tessa breathed out through pursed lips, "Damn, that was scary. I'm fine! It's you I'm worried about!"

She put her hand in his back jean pocket as he gave their names and flight details to the security guard, who nodded apologetically and disappeared to collect their luggage for them.

"I'm fine," Brandon answered her now that they were alone, "That shouldn't have happened. I should have had someone meet us in here. I could have--"

Tessa cut him off by placing her hands on either side of his face and breathing out a long shhh. Her eyes told him it was okay. He was still rattled, but a wave of relief rushed over him that she was ok.

\--

"And security didn't intervene?"

"They did eventually," Brandon explained, "But it took way too long, Jeremy. The crowd was crazy."

"Ok," Jeremy nodded back at him, "We never let you arrive in an airport alone. Not when your face is plastered all over the city, at least."

"I wasn't alone."

Jeremy raised a hand in apology to Tessa, who waved an ok to him from where she was leaning against Brandon's shoulder, "I mean alone without security. Or an escape route. Are you ok?" He directed his question to Tessa this time.

"Fine," Tessa smiled, "I mean, it was intense. But I wasn't the one being groped."

Jeremy frowned apologetically at Brandon again who was nervously rubbing his jaw. He hadn't been able to calm down during dinner with the crew and band, and he was still edgy as they sat in the living space of the bus going over the events at the airport. 

"You should get some sleep," Jeremy sighed, "Tessa there is an empty bunk right above Brandon's. I'm sorry this wasn't a nicer welcome to tour life."

She shot him a warm smile as he left them in the living room and joined the others in the small 'music' room at the back. Currently that was the home of a loud video game tournament which may end in a bloodbath judging by the snippets of yelling she caught. Mariokart really brings out the worst in people.

Brandon was frustratedly glaring at the TV, so Tessa took the opportunity to slip into the small bathroom. She was certain he wasn't watching the Italian-language soap opera, but she knew better than to interrupt his train of thought when his face was as stormy as it currently looked. Splashing water over her face she examined herself in the mirror. She looked tired, even though her mind was still wide awake from the bizarre cocktail of travelling, being mobbed, socialising with the people she'd be spending these two weeks with and trying to bring Brandon out of his bad mood. She should sleep if she wanted to get a handle on this jet lag before it got ahead of her.

Tessa took a quick shower and pulled her wet hair into a plait so it could dry overnight. Slipping into a pair of pyjamas, she exited the room. No sign of Brandon. She figured he had joined the others in the back room of the bus and decided to find her own bunk and let him take his mind off things with his friends.

She located her bed by a process of elimination - avoiding any bunks with bags or belongings in or near them. Eventually she found two freshly made bunks at the back, one above the other, and began to climb into the top one.

"Where you goin'?" Brandon's voice surprised her, as did the hand that slid under her shorts and pinched her butt. 

"Jesus fuck," She laughed, as she recovered from the surprise and hopped back onto the floor, "I thought you were with the guys."

"I went to say hey to our driver. He's new."

She nodded at him as his hand reached her hair effortlessly to twirl a loose wet strand between his fingers. He looked wide awake, and what's more, he was looking at her like he was going to devour her.

"Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" Brandon smirked.

"Like that, Brandon! The smirky thing! This bus is full, small and not at all soundproofed."

Brandon continued to eye her for a second before stripping off his clothes. He stood in his briefs in front of her, smirking again as he caught her checking him out. She couldn't help it. Scooping his clothes up, he set them in her bunk, being sure to lean over her instead of use the perfectly good empty space beside her. Her staggered breathing already giving away that he was having the desired effect on her, she decided to play along. He groaned a little when her teeth grazed his collarbone as she sucked the chain of his Nevada necklace into her mouth, leaning his forearms on the edge of the bunk on either side of her. 

"Am I just supposed to sleep in your laundry?" She sassed, releasing the silver chain and looking up at him with a raised eyebrow.

He shook his head, "We can share."

"Brandon these things are tiny. I'm honestly not even sure how you get your stupidly long legs in there let alone another full person."

"You basically sleep on top of me anyway."

"I do not!"

Brandon grinned and kissed her softly. He was really never going to let go of that one time she had woken with her top half sprawled over his torso. 

"Get in." 

She pouted at him, "Neither of us are gonna be able to get a decent sleep."

"So we'll find something else to do," He shot back, "Get in."

Tessa groaned but ducked into the bunk, closely followed by Brandon. They lay nose to nose, their legs tangled together and one of Brandon's arms snaked round her waist.

"See? It's cosy."

"Ok so it's nice right now," She said, examining his lips to avoid getting taken in by his mischievous eyes that could all too easily persuade her to do anything, "You're not gonna love it when I elbow you in the face in my sleep."

Brandon giggled, his breath tickling her face with its close proximity. He rubbed his nose against hers affectionately.

"You're so hard to please."

Tessa shut her eyes, enjoying the gentle rise and fall of Brandon's chest where she had placed her hand. She could feel his fingertips lightly running up and down her side. Just as she was about to drift off to sleep, he kissed the tip of her nose.

"You look fucking delicious in those pyjamas."

"Oh my god," Her eyes opened and she frowned at him, "I can't believe you wanna do this right now. The guys are right there."

"The curtain is closed," He grinned, pulling her close and then rolling her on to her back so he could climb on top of her, "And their game is so loud. They won't hear anything."

"You're not good at being quiet though," She protested halfheartedly, already enjoying the way he was gently gyrating against her.

"I'll try harder."

Poignantly, on the word 'harder' Brandon rolled his hips purposefully against her and she whimpered as she felt how hard he was. 

Brandon giggled, "Yeah, I'm the one who can't stay quiet."

Tessa rolled her eyes and he brought his lips down to meet hers, softly at first but increasing in urgency as he began rutting his hips against her through the material of their remaining clothes. Tessa couldn't hold back another whimper as he ground into her at just the right angle, and Brandon broke their kiss with a grin.

"Shhh baby," He teased, repeating the movement a little more roughly.

Tessa groaned out loud and he brought his hand up to cover her mouth as he continued grinding against her. After a few more moments Brandon was satisfied with the amount she was squirming underneath him and stilled, taking his hand away from her mouth as her eyes bore into him.

"Oh you're just gonna stop after that?"

He giggled at her pleading eyes and pecked a kiss to her lips, before lifting his body enough to slide her shorts down and wriggle his briefs halfway down his thighs. Tessa hummed pleasantly as she reached down to stroke him, squeezing his shaft slightly and causing him to let out a strangled grunt. He batted her hand away as she smirked at him and lay back on top of her, his hips angled just right to enter her. 

"You sure you're ok with this?" He whispered, kissing her softly and pushing the hair out of her face.

Tessa nodded. They'd had the conversation about protection in Vegas, when she had been woken up by Brandon poking her side gently with his laptop between them, open on the airline website. She'd sleepily keyed in her card details and let him do the rest of the work to book her onto his flight. It was only when he stood up to put his laptop on the nearby chair that she'd realised he hadn't bothered to put any clothes on and her relentless desire for him had taken over. When they'd realised he didn't have condoms they'd established that she was on the pill and they were both clean and only seeing each other.

Brandon muffled a groan against her shoulder as he slid into her, leaving her to grip the back of his head tightly instead of vocalising her pleasure. Their movements were limited by the space they had and the way they were both still slightly constricted by their remaining clothes. But that didn't stop Brandon from trying to break the springs of the mattress. Tessa moaned and sunk her teeth into his shoulder to muffle the series of noises threatening to spill over as Brandon began to pound into her harder. He swore in whispers as the pain mixed with the pleasure.

"Do that again," He rasped against her ear.

She obliged, sinking her teeth into the doughy skin right at the bottom of his neck this time. Brandon grunted and slammed his hips against hers, forcing a noise out of her that was way too loud for the room. 

His hand flew to her mouth again and he grinned at her wickedly, watching her face contort in pleasure as he slammed his hips against her again, her moans muffled by his fingers.

Brandon let out another series of expletives as Tessa ran her tongue along his finger, his uneven pace giving away that he was going to come at any moment. He pulled his hand away from her mouth and buried it in her hair, harshly squeezing it against the pillow on one side of her head with his face pressed into the pillow on the other side. Scared to say much of anything in case they were overheard, Tessa opted to help him along by bringing her hands to his shoulders and dragging her fingernails down his back. Brandon whimpered into the pillow as he came, the feeling of him twitching inside her pushing Tessa to the brink. Just as she was about to use her fingers to achieve the same high, Brandon's hand released her hair and trailed down her body, rubbing quick circles against her clit. She yelped slightly as she came, and Brandon brought his lips against hers quickly to absorb the sound as he continued the movement of his fingers more gently to bring her down.

They were trying to catch their breath when a surge of voices appeared nearby as their roommates filtered out of the back room. Tessa widened her eyes at Brandon who was smirking back at her, looking significantly more sleepy than before. Seems like they had just finished on time.


	22. Chapter 22

"I can't believe you didn't tell me your brother was an international rugby player."

Tessa shrugged and stood on her toes to collect the portion of fries they had ordered outside the Stadio Olympico. Knowing her older brother was representing Italy in the Autumn Internationals, she had suggested Brandon join her at a game - playing it off as her interest in the sport rather than her family connection. Brandon had agreed that it would be a fun pastime, as had several of the British or Irish band and crew. It had only clicked with Brandon when the name 'Luca Campbell' was read out by the announcer, the face flashing up on the screens bearing a familial resemblance to his girlfriend. 

"I don't know what any of your siblings do."

"None of my siblings have a cool job like that," He shot back, "Do I get to meet him?"

Tessa raised an eyebrow at Brandon then nodded slowly, "Sure, if you want to. You don't have to. Meeting my mother will be enough Campbells to last a lifetime, honestly."

She had called her mother the morning after they had landed in Rome, and had been forced to hold the phone away from her ear at the piercing scream that came from the other end. Staying with Mrs Campbell was non-negotiable from that point onwards and Tessa was a little worried about how Brandon would cope with what could only be described as her mother's aggressive form of hospitality. But she had six days to prepare him for their one night visit, Milan wasn't on the tour schedule until after some of the Southern cities and towns - including the three days in Rome they were on the final day of. 

Brandon giggled and shook his head, "I want to. You should invite him to the gig tonight. The whole team, if they'd be into it."

"I'm certain they would, are you sure?"

Brandon grinned and nodded back at her as he pinched some of the fries from the carton in her hand. The rest of their group that had attended the game with them had split into factions - each heading out to do something fun until the soundcheck for tonight's show - leaving Brandon and Tessa alone to wander the city. Tessa whipped out her phone and reluctantly passed the fries to Brandon, certain that she would be left with about 6 measly fries by the time she returned. For someone so lean he could pack away food like nobody's business. She typed out a congratulations-on-the-win text to her brother, and included Brandon's invitation. Within seconds her phone buzzed.

Luca: Thanks sis! We'll be there. 24 guys in the whole squad - if that's cool?

She nudged Brandon with her elbow and showed him the text. He nodded his approval through a mouthful of food and she sent a quick reply:

Tessa: Done. I'll send you details later. For the love of all that's holy, be chill.

Luca: 😉

Tessa groaned quietly to herself. Luca was a Killers fan. A big Killers fan. But Brandon knew that and seemed unfazed.

"Ok, so run me through your brothers names again?" He frowned and handed her back the fries. As she expected, she was left with a tiny portion rattling around the bottom of the carton.

"Oldest to youngest: Marco, Oliver, Leo, Rhys, Luca. In case you couldn't guess, my parents took turns naming each child."

Brandon giggled, "Makes sense. Who named you? Tessa isn't particularly British or Italian, is it?"

"One of the nurses," Tessa rolled her eyes, "I was a surprise. And when they found out, they assumed I'd be another boy so I was gonna be Theodore. They didn't have a backup."

"You'd make a cute Theo."

"You'd make a cute Brenda."

Brandon fluttered his eyelashes at Tessa as she stopped in her tracks mid-way up the hill they had been climbing. She frowned and looked around. After a second of readjusting her mental compass she took off again, leaving Brandon jogging after her.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Patience, Brenda, please."

Brandon squeezed her side playfully and she laughed. After a less than a minute more of walking, she stopped dead and he crashed into her back. 

"Jesus," Brandon grunted as he held her arms and put more distance between them again, looking around, "Ok so... You brought me to a locked door."

"Ok, asshole, you brought me to the middle of the fucking desert on our first date, have a little faith."

Brandon kissed the top of her head and waited as she bent over and put her face up against the keyhole of the door. 

"Are you about to break into this... monastery?" He frowned, looking at the plaque beside the giant wooden surface. 

"If I tell you that, I'll have to kill you."

"I've lived a good life."

Tessa snickered and stood up straight again, indicating the keyhole to Brandon, "This is the one!"

"The one what?" He raised an eyebrow at her, but she just tapped the surface with her finger again and looked at him expectantly.

Sighing, Brandon gave in and lowered his eye to the gap, not entirely convinced that this wasn't going to be a joke he hadn't figured out yet. He swore loudly and in awe when he realised why Tessa had brought him here. Once your eyes adjusted to the light streaming through the small hole, there was a clear and unobstructed view of the dome of St Peter's Basilica. It was remarkable. 

"Brandon!" Tessa slapped his back with a giggle at his outburst, "Right at the doors of a monastery! And you're supposed to be the religious one."

\--

"You ok, man?" Darren eyed Brandon as he paced up and down the room.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, you're gonna wear a hole in that floor, for a start," Darren chuckled, "And I'm pretty sure those vocal exercises can be heard from the other side of the city."

Brandon stopped making the weird noises he had been using to warm up his vocal chords. He did that every night, but he blushed when Darren pointed out that he was doing it way louder than normal.

"Also... You're wearing clothes? You never wear clothes this early before a show?"

It was Brandon's turn to laugh, "I figured meeting my girl's brother was a fully clothed kinda event."

Darren raised his eyebrows and gave him a thumbs up to indicate agreement. Brandon was about to go back to pacing - in a circle this time - when a gentle knock at the door made him start.

"COME IN!" He said, way too loud again. Get it together, Brandon.

Tessa appeared first, giving him a supportive smile as he looked to the man behind her. He was enormous. Brandon was used to being the shortest man in his band, but this guy was another level. He was at least Mark's height but built significantly bigger than Mark.

"Brandon Flowers! Holy shit, bro!" Luca laughed warmly and grabbed his outstretched hand, pulling him immediately into a hug. 

Brandon strained to keep his head looking over the younger man's shoulder. 

"You smell really good," Luca boomed as he let go.

"Thanks man," Brandon giggled nervously, wishing he could be as calm and collected as Luca appeared to be, "Congrats on the win today. I don't know much about rugby but three tries seems pretty good to me."

Luca waved off the compliment with a thanks. Brandon smiled appreciatively as Tessa suggested they move to the small table in the room to get some food, squeezing his hand as they did. 

"I'm a huge fan--" Luca started, cutting off when Tessa groaned loudly through her mouthful of food. While Brandon had chosen chicken from the menu they looked at earlier in the day, she had opted for a pasta dish for both her and her brother - one that they enjoyed as kids. 

Brandon giggled, "Thanks, that's awesome." 

"See," Luca teased Tessa, "He doesn't mind! So Brandon, I'm gonna need you to tell me everything. I have like so many questions."

"Luca, please," Tessa groaned again, "Leave him alone, he's got a show in under an hour."

"It's fine, babe," Brandon smiled at Tessa's genuine embarrassment, "What do you wanna know?"

Tessa remained pretty silent as Brandon patiently answered Luca's questions, which ranged from everything from the formation of the band to the meanings or stories behind his favourite songs. He told stories about how Brandon's music had been part of major milestones in his life - his first kiss, road trips he had taken, even the music he was using currently to psych himself up for big games. Brandon beamed with pride at that, and Tessa relaxed. Their conversation was flowing easily, and she felt less like she had to police Luca's crazy fan energy when she saw Brandon was appreciative of it. As her boyfriend and her brother talked back and forth, Luca suddenly clapped his hands and spun round to Tessa.

"That reminds me!" He said, cutting off his own story about the first time he purchased Hot Fuss, "The McLavery's are hosting a fancy-dress New Years party again this year. The theme is music videos." 

Tessa rolled her eyes, "Well we both know that's an excuse for Katie to dress as schoolgirl Britney."

Luca chuckled at his sister's disdain for their childhood neighbour, "Obviously. And Matt will go as Bono because he thinks he's funny. But you should do Mr. Brightside!"

"I'm already doing Mr. Brightside," Tessa shrugged and Brandon inhaled his Coke through his nose.

"Tessa!" He spluttered, his cheeks pink.

"Sorry," She grinned, not looking at all sorry. 

\--

Tessa sighed as she settled in her place at the side of the stage, having been introduced to 23 men whose names had gone in one ear and out the other as she tried to be as polite and friendly as possible. One thing was certain, they were very grateful for the tickets and couldn't wait to meet Brandon after the show. She inwardly applauded herself for deciding Brandon should only meet Luca beforehand - this would have been way too overwhelming. 

Luca bumped her shoulder lightly with his elbow and she looked up at him with a weary but happy smile. She knew she'd get a burst of energy when Brandon came out on stage. 

"Is he good to you?" Luca asked softly.

She wrapped her arm around her brother and squeezed him appreciatively. As the babies of the family they had been close since they were kids, and being so far away from him had been one of the hardest things about leaving the UK. Of course, months after she had left London, Luca had signed his contract to play international rugby and had left the country anyway - but that didn't stop her feeling like she had kind of abandoned him. 

"He is," She said softly, or as softly as she could in the buzz of the every growing crowd around them.

Luca nodded, "Good. Because idol of mine or not, he's a third of my size and I could literally snap him in half." 

Tessa snorted. Things never stayed serious between them for too long.

"I don't know, he's small but he's quick."

He laughed and swung his arm around her, "We have so much to catch up on."

He pinched her shoulder and she was about to start an attack on his stomach when the lights went down and the increasingly familiar buzz of an excited crowd took over. Despite his whole protective-brother routine, Luca started jumping up and down like a teenage girl as Brandon strutted onto the stage and flashed a grin in their direction.

"Mamma's gonna lose her shit when she sees this!" Luca bent down to shout in her ear.


	23. Chapter 23

"My ice-cream is getting wet!" Brandon whined, trying to shelter the towering multi-coloured cone in his coat from the downpour of rain that had been plaguing them all day.

"Well shit," Tessa shook her head in mock disbelief, "Ice-cream and rain don't go together. Who do we call with this groundbreaking discovery?"

Brandon pouted at her and bent over slightly to inhale the remainder of his cone while it was safe under his hood. Mark had directed him to a place that had the best ice-cream in the world, and since they were only in Siena for one day, he'd decided to buy one despite the weather. He grinned at Tessa's frown, sticking his tongue out and sliding his hand into hers.

"That was really good."

"I thought the woman in the shop was going to pass out from surprise."

"Yeah I think she thought I was insane."

Brandon grinned at Tessa and swung their arms dramatically as they meandered down the empty, winding streets of Siena, aimlessly taking in the architecture and atmosphere - despite the worst weather the town had had all year, according to their cab driver. Equally attracted to the warm light coming from the door and the colourful pottery she could see inside, Tessa tugged Brandon's hand and led them into a small shop, filled to the rafters with goods. 

Brandon shuddered as he took his hood down inside, shaking himself like a dog in the doorway. Tessa giggled and apologised in what little Italian she knew to the grumpy elderly man tutting behind the counter.

"Good hell..." Brandon's eyes went wide as he looked around at the rainbow colours and patterns of bowls and plates and decorative pieces dotted over every surface of the shop - including hung on the walls and stacked high on the floors.

"I know right?" Tessa murmured in response, "Mamma would never let us come into these stores as kids. She thought we'd wreck everything and she'd have to pay for a whole shop of broken pottery."

Brandon chuckled and nodded his agreement. He had felt himself tense up at the narrow space in the shop as he realised that any movement could cause a very expensive avalanche. Unable to rest his eyes on one single item, he turned to Tessa, watching with a smile as she ran her fingers over a set of green plates in awe. 

"We had one just like this growing up," Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him, "It was only brought out on special occasions. I always thought that was a waste."

Brandon hummed and looked between her and the plate as her face clouded over again. Sometimes he couldn't tell what she was thinking, other times it was written all over her face. This was one of the latter times. He knew her parents had split up shortly after she went to college, and he could see her fond memories of her childhood home conflicting with the harder memories of her parents living in two separate places - neither of which were home to Tessa or her brothers due to their ages. She had made her peace with them separating, and it sounded like it was a good call for both of them, but he couldn't help but wonder if she missed having that safe place to run to when she needed somewhere.

"We should pick up some holiday gifts," He suggested, kissing the top of her head and smoothing his hand over where her hair had been ruffled under her raincoat hood. 

"Oh that's a good idea! We should get something for your folks for when we visit." 

"My mom likes blue..." His voice petered out as he went back to watching Tessa scan the room with an eye that looked expert, "Have you done this before?"

Tessa snapped out of her concentration with a giggle, "Mamma was an interior designer before having us. I think we all have a little of her eye in us. Except Marco. He once painted his entire room electric green. Like, green-screen green."

After a second of further thought she pointed to a plate on the wall and Brandon stepped closer to take a look. It was perfect, Monterey blue with swirling intricate patterns that only revealed themselves to be flowers when you focused hard. Tessa carefully lifted the plate from its wall mount and examined it more closely. 

"They have a flower market here every week," She explained, her voice dropping as the man behind the counter eyed them suspiciously, "And in between the stalls of flowers you can see the artists who paint these plates doing their thing. It's pretty awesome. We should come back some time to see it."

Brandon nodded and took the plate from her, freeing her to look around and select a few others for various gifts. His heart flipped a little at the thought of coming back here with Tessa. They should definitely take a proper holiday together - although these few days off in the middle of touring felt like a good start. With a stack in his hands, Brandon made his way over to the counter where the grumpy man began to wrap and box their purchases after a few Italian words from Tessa. 

"Babe, could you get us a cab?" Brandon said, looking at his watch, "We should probably get going if we wanna make it to Milan by dinner."

Tessa nodded and threw her hood back up, bracing herself for the contrast to the warm, dry shop they were in. Brandon smiled as he watched her hurry down the street towards the train station, where they had made a mental note of a cab rank when they arrived. 

"Could I get some of the green plates too?" Brandon indicated the plates Tessa had looked so fondly at when they arrived, "Per favore?"

The man grunted a 'si' and disappeared into a small storeroom behind him, reemerging to hold a plate out to Brandon for his approval. 

"That's the one," Brandon confirmed, "Eight of those, please. Grazie."

\--

"Fuck," Brandon breathed as he pulled their rental car into a long driveway that led to Mrs Campbell's house. 

"Not bad, huh?" Tessa smiled wistfully, turning down the volume of Depeche Mode, "It was my grandmother's. And my great and great great grandmother's, I guess."

Brandon nodded, too astounded to reply. The sweeping driveway they were travelling down led to a u-shaped farmhouse. While it was only one level in height, it stretched on forever. As they got closer he could see that there were bits currently being renovated and bits left to renovate.

"Yeah," Tessa spotted him staring at the left side of the building, which still looked like the old farmhouse it had been, "Mamma's just fixing it up as she gets the money. When I was a kid only the middle section was liveable, but Mamma made it her life's work to restore the rest."

"She's doing a damn good job," Brandon said as he parked, still in total awe of what he had stumbled onto, "You're full of surprises. Every time I think I know you something like this appears and I'm back at square one."

Tessa laughed and swung her door open, hopping down and retrieving the neatly wrapped box that contained the plate they had chosen for her mother. Brandon mirrored her on the other side of the car, collecting the bouquet of lilies - Mrs Campbell's favourites. He'd insisted on buying a bouquet on their way into Milan, and had debated with the lady in the flower shop about the best arrangement for 20 minutes until he was satisfied they were perfect. He'd also left with a job offer, albeit sarcastically. 

"Mio amore!" A voice called them from the doorway and Tessa giggled at her mother jumping up and down in the threshold, wearing her trademark overalls and a shirt that was bright enough to replace the sun on this grey Italian day.

"Hey mamma," She grinned, unable to say another word when her mother pulled her in for a hug tight enough to break her ribs. 

Finally releasing Tessa, her mother began garbling in Italian neither Brandon nor Tessa understood. She did that when she was excited.

"You never taught me Italian," Tessa interrupted with a raised eyebrow and her mother slapped her own forehead as if to reboot the English speaking part of her brain. 

She beamed back at her daughter, "I should never have let you all grow up English. I forget I did sometimes."

"Scottish, mamma. Dad would not approve of raising us English." 

Her mother rolled her eyes slightly, but the giant grin on her face betrayed her joy at Tessa's familiar teasing. After a moment she clapped her hands and cried out, causing both Brandon and Tessa to jump slightly.

"My manners!" She turned to Brandon, "Sweet boy! Where are my manners! It is so nice to finally meet you after hearing about mia figlia's singing boyfriend! The Murderers!"

Brandon smiled bemusedly and Tessa couldn't hold back a laugh. She had warned him her mother was a hurricane, but no amount of preparation could have had him ready for this. He was saved from having to answer when her mother took the initiative to bound into the driveway and throw her arms around him too. Brandon did his best to hug the small woman with one arm while holding the bouquet in the other, raising his eyebrows at Tessa who shrugged an 'I told you so' back at him. 

"It's an honour to meet you, Mrs Campbell--" Brandon started, nervously, deciding now was not the time to correct her misnaming of his band.

"NO!" Tessa's mother exclaimed and Brandon looked terrified, "There is no 'Mrs Campbell' in this house. Call me Chiara, mio figlio."

Brandon visibly relaxed and passed the flowers to their host, who accepted them gratefully and gushed about how beautiful the arrangement was. Brandon smirked at Tessa as she rolled her eyes - she had said the arrangement wouldn't be a big deal when Brandon was debating with the florist. 

"We must eat! You must be starved! --" Chiara's voice faded as she practically ran into the house, leaving the couple on the doorstep. 

"I warned you," Tessa shrugged at Brandon, "And she expects you to follow, there is no pause to let you catch up. She won't have noticed we aren't still with her."

\--

"I'm never leaving."

"You're gonna cancel your tour to live with my mother?"

"I'll sing here. People can come to me instead of the other way around."

Tessa snorted and splashed water over her face in the ensuite attached to their room for the night, "Ain't no desert in Lombardy, cowboy."

Brandon frowned at her in the mirror. He paused for a few seconds in deep thought, then shrugged.

"I'll fly back to the desert for holidays."

Tessa laughed as Brandon slid off the bed and padded into the room behind her. 

"You only want to stay here because you're scared I'm gonna have to roll you around after that meal," She teased, poking his bare stomach.

Brandon giggled, "I wasn't sure I was even gonna make it up the stairs. I've never eaten so much food. Chiara's a hell of a cook."

Tessa nodded in agreement and began to sweep her hair into a ponytail as Brandon brushed his teeth. She leant against the cool surface beside the sink, eyeing her boyfriend as he stood in his briefs, his hair in wild curls thanks to the rain that had soaked them through earlier in the day. 

"Can I help you?" He asked through a mouthful of white foam. 

"I can't believe I still find you attractive even when you're spitting toothpaste at me," Tessa frowned, wiping a small fleck off her cheek.

Brandon spat into the sink and washed his mouth with water, turning around with a knowing grin.

"You were scared to fuck in the bus, but now we are under the same roof as your mother you're giving me those eyes?"

She rolled her eyes at him, "She's on the other side of the house so it's definitely less of a concern than the bus, babe. But that's not what I was saying!"

Brandon's large hand met her waist as she was about to move into their room, pulling her to him and bringing their lips together.

"You sure?" He breathed between kisses.

Tessa wound her arms around his neck, pulling him close and humming happily against his lips as his hands slid up under her shirt. He was about her height due to the way he was perched against the sink with his legs stretched out on either side of her body, and he wasted no time in rocking her hips against his crotch as they kissed.

"It's possible I'm gonna cramp up during this," Brandon smirked at her, their faces inches apart, "I ate so many carbs."

Tessa snorted before biting his bottom lip gently, "Sexy. That's just what every girl wants to hear."

Brandon giggled and went about attacking her neck with his lips, his hand moving up to pull her hair out of its ponytail. Once it was free he tugged on the ends of it harshly and dragged his lips up her throat, grinning in satisfaction as Tessa whimpered slightly. He made quick work of her t-shirt and button-up skirt, leaving them both writhing against each other with the bare minimum of layers left between them.

"Wait," Tessa paused suddenly, tiptoeing across the room and pulling the lock across the door. 

She grinned at him as she sashayed back, enjoying how his eyes ran restlessly over her body. When she got within reaching distance Brandon pulled her against him again, this time with her back against his chest. Her breathing hitched as his fingers trailed over her stomach, his lips working on the nape of her neck and shoulders as his hands made their way lower. 

"Brandon," She groaned as his hand tugged at the top of her panties.

He snickered and bit her earlobe, "You're so impatient."

She responded to his teasing by wiggling her ass against his hard-on. He grunted, a little louder than he had expected, and Tessa smirked at him. 

"Fuck me, Flowers."

Brandon didn't need telling twice, spinning them around so Tessa could bend over the sink slightly. He made quick work of both of their underwear and placed his hands over Tessa's on the countertop as he buried himself inside her. She yelped in surprise and he bent forward to kiss her neck and give her a moment to adjust to his size. Her face was sedated in pleasure as he kissed up and along her jaw, and she squeezed his hand in hers, giving him permission to start moving. He brought his hands to her hips as he began to thrust into her, her own hands gripping the sink until her knuckles where white. 

"Are you good, baby?" He managed to mumble, aware that the hard surface of the sink wasn't the most comfortable thing to be leaning on.

"Y--" Tessa stuttered, "Fuck yeah."

Brandon giggled and brought his hips against her even faster. He felt her legs start to shake under him, signalling that she was close and tugged her hair, bringing her back against him so he could kiss along her neck again. 

"Jesus, Brandon," She groaned breathily, her head falling forward as she neared her end, "I'm gon--"

"Me too," Brandon responded, filling in the blanks for himself as Tessa's sentence faded into a moan, "Come for me, baby."

He slowed his thrusts and angled his hips slightly differently until Tessa's legs began to shake and she muttered curses interspersed with his name as she came. Her hand flew around to grip his thigh, and the sensation of her nails against his skin coupled with the exhilarating sound of his name on her lips sent him tumbling after her. He brought his hands down on top of hers again as he peppered kisses along her shoulders, allowing them both to catch their breath.

Tessa smiled at him in the mirror, "I love ya, Flowers."

Brandon snorted, "Love ya more, Campbell."

He watched as she slid into one of his t-shirts and scraped her hair into a messy bun, before turning the TV on and sliding into their bed. She raised an eyebrow as she caught him staring.

"If anyone should be staring, it should be me," She eyed his still-naked body. 

He giggled and slid into bed beside her, turning to face her and cupping her face to get her to look at him.

"I do actually love you," He said softly.

Tessa's smirk changed into a genuine smile, and his heart soared as her cheeks reddened a little. She kissed the knuckles of his hand, before meeting his eye. 

"I love you too, Brandon."


	24. Chapter 24

Tessa giggled as Brandon scampered along the pavement in front of her, looking more and more nervous by the second. He had just played the last show of this leg of the tour in Bern, Switzerland, and had decided he'd rather head back to their hotel than join the band and crew for the afterparty. He said he was tired, but Tessa suspected it had something more to do with the storm that had been scheduled to arrive tonight and was starting to make itself known in the night air.

"Stop smirking like that and hurry up!" He whined over his shoulder at Tessa. If he had his way they'd be running the whole way back.

"Brandon, it's not even raining."

"I know that but the storm was supposed to start at midnight and it's now--" He pulled out his phone and groaned, "1am! Oh my gosh."

Tessa raised an eyebrow and held her hand out to him, but kept going at her chosen pace. Brandon pouted down at her but took her hand, squeezing it a little more tightly than usual. He was still walking a few paces ahead of her, but at least he wasn't dragging her down the street. Tessa took Brandon's nervous silence as a chance to look around at their surroundings. Bern was a beautiful city - from what she'd had the chance to see - and even more so at night. The warm yellow lighting made the light stonework of every building glow, and the red-orange roof tiles were strangely calming to her. She wondered if that was because they reminded her somewhere at the back of her mind of the rooftops of Italy.

"Are you really gonna make me watch you get hit by lightning and die?"

Tessa snorted, muttering under her breath, "You're taller."

She instantly regretted even trying to joke when his face went white and he started to look at the sky as if he could predict where the first strike was going to come from. By way of apology she tucked herself against his side and sped up.

They reached the hotel in less than five minutes, much to Tessa's relief as she heard the beginnings of a rumble of thunder as they walked through the door. She couldn't imagine how much more jumpy her boyfriend would get if they were still outside when the weather really turned. She smiled at the receptionists as they walked through the lobby towards the elevator, colliding with Brandon's back when he stopped dead in front of her.

"We should take the stairs," He looked at her with wide eyes and she nodded - knowing there was no point in arguing when he looked that terrified.

"Race?" She grinned at him as they entered the stairwell, taking off two steps at a time before he had even had time to process what she'd said.

"You're such a cheater!" He yelped.

She could hear the clacking of his boots as he bounded up behind her, but she refused to turn around. It was going to be a long 9 flights, at least winning this race might sweeten the deal. She gasped as Brandon reached for her arm, dodging away just in time to keep out of his reach. He may have had the advantage of leg length, but she definitely was fitter.

After 5 flights, the distance between them widened and she giggled as she heard Brandon pant and groan from somewhere below her. Slowing to a stop, she looked over the banister to see him trudging up the flight below her.

"Oh come on," She teased, "You're better than that."

Brandon's head shot up and he stuck his middle finger up at her, "You didn't just play a two hour show!"

Tessa ignored his complaints and kept moving, reaching the 9th floor and leaning as nonchalantly as she could muster against their door. A minute later, Brandon appeared and shook his head.

"Don't."

"Don't what, old fella?"

Brandon pouted as he located their key in his jacket pocket, "You youngsters don't have any respect."

As the couple walked into the darkness, a flash lit up the room. Brandon froze in front of Tessa and she nearly collided with his back again, managing instead to reach out her hands to his sides.

"Babe, it's all good," She soothed, stroking his ribs lightly.

Brandon said nothing, and she could feel the tension in his body under her fingertips. This was going to be a challenge. Staying behind him, Tessa brought her body against his and squeezed her arms around his waist.

"The show was so good tonight," She mumbled, leaning her head between his shoulder blades as she began to gently run her hands over his chest.

"It was fine," Brandon said quietly, his voice riddled with anxiety.

"I thought it was great, they responded really well to The Way It's Always Been."

"Yeah," Brandon nodded, relaxing his shoulders a little more, "But they didn't know the covers."

"They came to see you. They were just excited to hear your songs. But for people who maybe didn't already know the song, they came alive when you started singing it."

"What can I say, I'm just that good," He said, and she could hear the smirk in his voice.

Tessa moved to Brandon's front, standing on her toes to kiss him and sighing inwardly in relief that he looked a little less tense than he had been since the show ended.

"Do you want me to shut the curtains?" She whispered, running her thumb over his cheekbone as he looked nervously at the window that stretched from the floor to the ceiling, revealing a spectacular view over the city and, unfortunately in this case, the skies.

He shook his head, "I'd rather see it than just hear the rumble."

They undressed in silence, Tessa changing into one of Brandon's shirts and standing by the window to watch the rain bouncing off the small balcony attached to their room. She turned her head to see Brandon sitting in his briefs in the middle of the bed, his thumb tapping against his bare leg and his brow furrowed. He looked at her gratefully as she began to unplug the appliances in their room in an attempt to make him feel as safe as possible.

"We should get some food," Tessa suggested.

Brandon chewed his bottom lip and looked at the small phone on their bedside table.

"We don't have to use that," Tessa reassured him, "I can go down and order at the restaurant."

He paused, before looking at her bashfully and sliding to the edge of the bed to wrap his arms around her waist. He lay his face against her stomach and mumbled something unintelligible against her body.

"Hmm?" Tessa asked softly, running her fingers through the curls at the back of his head.

"I don't want you to leave."

"Then I won't leave."

Brandon squeezed her appreciatively, and she felt him inhale deeply as he tried to calm his overactive mind. His nervousness about the storm was partly from the fear of the storm itself, but exacerbated by knowing he had to get on a plane again tomorrow. They stood like that for a few minutes, Brandon tensing slightly every time a rumble of thunder filled the silent air around them, but relaxing more easily as Tessa massaged his shoulders and hummed a random tune.

"Is that one of Ronnie's?" Brandon asked, looking up at her with raised eyebrows.

Tessa laughed, realising he was right, "I guess it is."

Tom had sent her some recommendations of Ronnie's work with Big Talk, and it had been floating around her head since she'd heard it.

"Why would you pick his solo stuff over mine?" Brandon smirked, blowing a raspberry against her stomach and making her squeal.

"Because you'd critique my interpretation of yours," She sassed, sliding out of his grip to pick through her overnight bag.

"I would not!"

"You would. You have."

"That wasn't critique, that was me trying to harmonise."

"Sure it was, Dick."

Brandon giggled and reached off the bed, pulling out his notebook and glasses before returning to his crosslegged position in the centre of the bed. Tessa frowned at his silhouette, knowing he wouldn't dare touch the small lamp beside him. Scooping up the floor-length curtain, she stuffed it behind the dresser at the side of the window, allowing a long stretch of light from the streets below them to reach Brandon. He looked up at her, smiling gratefully as she sat on the floor by the window to watch the lightning. It was unfortunate that Brandon was so afraid of storms, thunder and lightning was one of Tessa's favourite things.

"Whatcha doing?" She cocked her head at Brandon where he was frowning at the bedspread.

He held his notebook up to her, "Gonna write. Unless you wanna do something?"

Tessa shook her head, "That's ok. Besides, anything we can do in the pitch dark would kinda be ruined if you lost your rhythm every time there was a flash of lightning."

Brandon giggled again - a delightful sound to Tessa, one that proved she was keeping him calm - and turned back to his work, leaving her to watch the skies with her back against the window frame and her legs stretched out in front of her. After a few moments of just enjoying the show, she pulled open her bottle of nail polish and began to get to work on her very un-manicured fingers.

"What colour is that?" Brandon's voice cut through her daydream as she fanned her freshly painted nails in front of her.

"Red," She replied, looking up to see him watching her from the bed.

Brandon nodded and lowered his head again, but she could see his attention had been lost - the furious scribbling she'd heard in the darkness being replaced by the tapping of pencil against paper.

"What's the word, hummingbird?"

"Oh my gosh," Brandon shook his head and giggled at her phrase - a variation on the same way she checked in on him when he seemed concerned by something, "That was a bad one."

Tessa laughed and watched him clamber off the bed and tentatively walk over to where she was sitting, his eyes nervously scanning the sky. She raised an eyebrow as he sat down opposite her, lifting her legs off the wall and laying them over his own.

He smiled slightly at her and her heart skipped, he was so goddamn cute and it seemed like she was never going to get used to it. He watched her in silence as she blew on her nails.

"Brandon," She started, curiously, "Do you want me to paint your nails?"

Brandon blushed and shrugged, "Kinda."

Tessa grinned at him and took his right hand, laying it on her thigh and shaking the bottle of polish.

"I can just do one and you can see what you think," She murmured as she painted his pinky finger carefully.

Brandon raised his hand and stretched it out in front of him, wiggling his fingers with a grin. He didn't have to say anything as he set it back on her knee and Tessa got to work on the other fingers.

"Your fingers are stupid long." She whispered, sticking her tongue out between her lips in concentration as she repeated the process on his other hand.

"I know."

"Why are they so long? It makes no sense. So unnecessary."

"You've never seemed to mind."

She frowned at him in confusion, making him grin as he started to moan and curse breathily in what he thought was a good impression of her enjoying his fingers.

"Brandon Flowers!" She spluttered as he cracked up at his own idea of a joke.

"Exactly like that!" He laughed hysterically at her high pitched outburst of his name.

"I do not sound like that!" She protested through her own laughs, swatting his arm and screwing up her nose, "And why would I ever say your whole name?"

He shrugged and wiggled his fingers, admiring them in the pale light, "Yes you do. It's cute. And I could make you say my whole name."

"You could not."

"Ok, you're right," He nodded with a smirk, "I could make you scream it."

Any protest Tessa was planning on offering was cut short when he brought his lips against hers in a tender kiss. She hummed and slipped her tongue into his mouth impatiently, making him pull away.

"And I will," He smirked, raising his hand and fanning his fingers, "But only when my manicure is dry."


	25. Chapter 25

"Pass me the aux."

Brandon obliged and watched out of the corner of his eye as Tessa scrolled on her phone with her tongue poking out of the side of her mouth. Flicking his eyes back to the road, he spotted a sign for Dixie National Forest on their right. That meant they were nearly halfway to Nephi, and halfway to introducing his parents to the most important person in his life. He slid the car into cruise control as they only had open road ahead of them, and frowned at the opening bars of what Tessa had decided was better than the radio. 

She snickered at his confused expression, "The Book of Mormon soundtrack. I gotta brush up on my knowledge if I wanna impress Jean and Terry."

Brandon laughed, "Babe, I told them about you, they know you aren't religious. It's fine. They'll love you."

"Ok but this musical taught me who Joseph Smith and Moroni are. You never taught me that."

He raised his eyebrows, a little impressed, "If you wanted a lecture, all you had to do was ask. See it all started in 1823..."

His voice faded into a giggle as Tessa groaned and put her fingers in her ears, "If you aren't gonna sing it in a fun musical way, please don't. Also I know about 1823. That's when he found the gold plates."

Brandon's eyebrows ascended further, "Damn."

"Catchy songs work!" Tessa giggled and brought her feet up onto the dash as the first song ended, "Did you ever do mission?"

Brandon shook his head and leaned his elbow on the door, "No. I fell in and out of faith a lot back then. At the age I would have served a mission I was probably drunk in a bar on the strip, depressed about how my keyboard band was getting nowhere."

"Do you regret missing the chance?"

"I guess. I don't know, maybe I've done a sort of late and weird version of mission with people taking such an interest in my faith over the years."

Tessa nodded as Brandon reached over the centre console and squeezed her thigh.

"Relax. It'll be fine."

"I know," She sighed, "I just want to make a good impression. I get that you're a fully grown 34 year old man but... I mean, what's the protocol? Will we be in separate rooms since we aren't married?"

Brandon started to giggle, stifling it when he saw Tessa's genuinely worried face.

"I'm serious! I've literally never been in a church, I have no idea how this works."

"Ok," He started, taking her hand in his and rubbing his thumb over her knuckles supportively, "No they won't make us sleep in separate rooms, I wouldn't let them. They will go to church tomorrow morning and I might go with them - if it's ok with you. You do not have to go. My brother is visiting this weekend too, and he is less into the whole God thing so you'll have a buddy."

He grinned lopsidedly at Tessa and she couldn't hold back a smile. 

"I told them you came to Europe with me," He continued, taking the car out of cruise control as they came up on an intersection, "And they aren't stupid, they'll know we've been sleeping together. Mom won't love that, but she also won't kick up a fuss. She's happy if I'm happy."

"At least we're not living in sin, I guess," Tessa half laughed.

Brandon just smiled, keeping his attention on the road as he navigated through a series of junctions in the relatively small town they were passing through. She admired his concentrated face as he drove, suddenly occurring to her how attractive she found him when he was driving. Well, that's new. She shifted in her seat and made a concentrated effort to focus on the scenery instead of how good Brandon looked. The town was small, and... very brown. It was a million miles from Las Vegas, that's for sure.

"Is this what Nephi is like?"

Brandon giggled, "This is New York compared to Nephi, darlin'."

\--

Tessa tiptoed down the stairs in search of a glass of water. The Flowers' house was small and traditional, and every wall was littered with photos of their children - which had been very amusing as Jean walked her through the stages of Brandon's life while Brandon sat with his head in his hands in embarrassment, but was like an obstacle course as she felt her way through the darkness of the house. 

"Shi--" She held back a curse as her fingers dislodged something from the wall she was using to guide herself to the kitchen. 

"I got that," Shane's voice made her jump out of her skin, but she was glad to have been caught swearing by him rather than Brandon's mom or dad.

"Thank you," She laughed as he instinctively flicked on a small lamp and hung the picture back on the wall. It was of all six Flowers children, dressed in baseball outfits. Baby Brandon's outfit was clearly a hand-me-down, rolled at the ankles and wrists to stop him tripping over the excess material.

Shane smiled and followed her into the kitchen, reaching above the shelves as she poured herself a glass of water. 

"Old habits," He chuckled, holding up a box of cookies, "If you didn't hide your treats in this house, your treats were gone when you came to find them."

Tessa accepted his offer of a cookie and leant against the sink opposite Shane. He was taller and more built than Brandon, and had the air of someone who stopped giving a shit when he was a teenager, deciding to do whatever the hell made him happy - which lined up with most of the stories Brandon had told her. She'd clicked with him instantly, and even though they didn't have the chance to talk much during the day, his presence was somehow reassuring.

"So I finally get to meet the famous waitress Bray was stalking," He teased.

"He did not stalk me," Tessa laughed quietly, "But he did take his damn time in asking me out."

Shane nodded, "Sounds like Brandon. Do you know you're the first girlfriend he's brought here?"

"Jean told me. I hope I'm not a disappointment."

She was half joking, half deadly serious. Brandon's family meant a lot to him and therefore meant a lot to her. She wanted them to think she was a good fit for their son and brother.

"They like you," Shane smiled warmly, "A lot. Even if you won't go to church."

Tessa laughed and swatted the air, knowing Shane wouldn't tell her if they hadn't liked her. 

"I'm serious," He patted her arm gently and pointed across the room, "See?"

Tessa followed the direction of his finger to the section of wall above the small dining table that was dedicated to this part of Brandon's life. It was covered in pictures of him on stage or with the other Killers and clippings of good reviews of his work. They really were very proud. As her eyes descended, she spotted a new addition. The blue plate Brandon and Tessa had gifted them from Siena sat proudly on the countertop, and beside it the card Tessa had chosen to thank them for letting the couple stay for a few days. Leaning on the other side of the plate was a shiny new silver photo frame with a candid picture of Brandon and Tessa laughing backstage at a show in Zurich. Brandon had mailed it to his parents along with a happy thanksgiving card he had sent them from the Swiss city. 

"You've joined the family shrine," Shane grinned.

Tessa laughed, but she was genuinely touched to have been placed amongst what was clearly a precious collection of family items.

"I was just about to come find you," Brandon frowned as she slipped back into his room.

"Sorry baby, I ran into Shane."

Brandon nodded and lay back down on his childhood bed, flipping through a hardback A4 book that was looking a little worn at the edges. He looked so huge in the small room now, but she could see traces of what he had been like as a kid and young teenager living here. It was in the way he reached for things without looking - trusting that they'd be where they always were - or the way he lay across the bed at an odd angle to catch the bedside light while avoiding the particularly noisy spring on the left side of the mattress. 

Tessa glanced at the time on the small digital clock on his bedside table. 11pm and she was exhausted. She decided to blame it on the persistent jet lag and her building anxiety about this event. Slipping out of her jeans and flannel shirt, she began to pull on a pair of pyjamas. 

"What are those?" Brandon piped up from the bed, where he'd very obviously been watching her undress. 

"Pyjamas..." She raised an eyebrow, "What one traditionally wears to bed."

"One might," He sassed back, "But you normally wear my shirts."

"This is your parents' house, Brandon. There is no lock on this door. I don't want anyone to see me wandering around in a shirt that barely covers my ass."

He squinted at her, "Dude, we had sex over the sink in your mom's house. How is you wearing my t-shirt to bed worse than that?"

"My mum isn't super religious, dude."

"Right, so I'm sure she'd be thrilled that we had to wipe your handprints off her guest bathroom mirror," He smirked, "My 'some girls' t-shirt is on the back of the chair."

Tessa threw her hands in the air in defeat and unbuttoned the nightshirt, pulling on the Rolling Stones t-shirt she'd worn a million times instead. She decided not to abandon the shorts part of the pyjama set - just in case. Turning round, she saw Brandon still smirking at her. 

"Wait, did you do that just so I'd take my shirt off again?"

Brandon shrugged and turned back to his book with a smug expression. He hummed happily as she slid onto the bed beside him and curled up against his side. 

"You sleepy?"

She nodded, yawning as if on cue. Brandon giggled and tapped her arm until she looked up at the book he was still clutching. She gasped and grabbed it out of his hands as she saw what he was trying to show her. 

"You were so cute!" She squeaked, sitting up to look properly at the yearbook picture of Brandon.

"I'm pretty cute now, thanks."

"You have nothing on this guy."

Brandon swung his arm around her and pulled her back down onto the bed, rolling his body on top of hers and pushing the yearbook onto the floor with a soft bang. Tessa giggled as he buried his face in her neck and littered her skin with small kisses and nibbles, his hair tickling her chin. 

"Are you really gonna go to church in the morning and leave me here trying to get rid of a hickey?" She groaned, pushing him away as he began to suck gently on her neck.

Brandon giggled and rubbed his nose against hers affectionately before resting his face in the crook of her neck again. He sighed as tiredness washed over him, with Tessa's fingers ghosting over his upper arms.

"I love you," He mumbled, kissing her neck once more before rolling onto his back.

"I love you too, Flowers," Tessa yawned, "Now turn on your side so I can spoon you."

"So demanding," He found himself yawning too as he obliged, flicking the lamp switch on his way over and plunging them into darkness. 

"Fuck, it's so quiet here," Tessa whispered, suddenly aware of the absence of white noise that was always present in Vegas and had been present in all of the European cities they'd visited. Even her mother's farmhouse had the noise of a nearby road.

Brandon hummed in agreement as her arm wound around his waist, landing in its familiar position on his chest, squeezing his shirt in her small hand and sliding in closer behind him. His eyelids drooped close to the sound of her slowing breathing.


	26. Chapter 26

"You're allowed to laugh," Brandon grinned, placing a hand on his hip.

Tessa let out the laugh she had been holding in as she watched Brandon get dressed for church and covered her eyes. It was going to take a while to erase the image of him in what looked kind of like a poorly-made white romper. A really unattractive poorly-made white romper.

"I'm sorry," She spluttered, "That's the funniest thing I've ever seen. You look ridiculous."

"You know I've shared a stage with Paul McCartney? Bruce Springsteen?" He sassed her with one raised eyebrow.

Tessa rolled her eyes, "If only they could see you now."

Brandon giggled and pulled on a pair of grey suit trousers, covering the knee length white shorts that he had explained were traditional temple garb for LDS believers. Over the matching white t-shirt he buttoned up a plain white shirt and pulled on a striped tie. He turned to Tessa and held his arms out.

"Better?"

She shook her head, "I mean, I'll never look at you the same way. And I can still see the top part through your shirt."

Brandon frowned and looked down at his chest where the white of the undershirt shone through the thin material covering it. 

"Only because I'm tan! I was paler as a teen, you wouldn't have been able to see it."

"Stop!" Tessa groaned, her laughter bubbling over again as she thought about the mop-haired boy she'd seen in pictures grumpily putting on his 'temple garments' just to be dragged out the door to church by his parents. 

Brandon laughed and bent over the bed to kiss Tessa, which was easier said than done given how she was still cracking up at him.

"You need to go," She pushed his chest away, "I need to reevaluate this whole relationship. We mightn't have gotten this far if you'd been wearing those in San Francisco."

Brandon giggled as he walked through the door and threw a balled up t-shirt at her head.

\--

Brandon gleefully bounced in his chair as a waitress set their food down in front of them. He'd driven them to Payson as soon as he got out of church on the basis that he was craving ranch and a place in Payson had the best ranch in the world. He had, thankfully, changed back into jeans and a t-shirt, although that hadn't made the knee-length underwear any less funny the second time Tessa had seen them. He raised an eyebrow at her screwed up nose.

"I'm gonna need you to drop the attitude."

"What is it with America and putting ranch on everything?"

"It makes everything better. Shut up and eat."

Tessa watched as he picked up a slice of pizza and dipped it into the ranch. He paused, raising his eyebrows at her as he waited for her to do the same. 

"It's gonna change your life. You might actually propose to me on the spot. We'll have to tell our grandkids that their grandparents fell in love over ranch."

"I mean I've already seen the worst thing in the world today," She snickered at the awful memory of him standing in his underwear as he rolled his eyes, "I guess this can't be that bad."

They simultaneously took a bite and Brandon let out a groan way too loud for the pretty empty room. Tessa choked slightly on her mouthful as the few other customers looked around at them. 

"So. Fucking. Good." Brandon said, slapping his hand against the table after each word.

She nodded and took another bite, much to Brandon's excitement. 

"I'm not down on one knee yet," She laughed at his enormous smile, "But I'll admit that is kinda delicious."

Brandon had given her a brief tour of Nephi before they drove to Payson - which consisted of him standing at an intersection pointing out his school, the golf course and the main street - all of which were visible from one place and apparently the only things in the town worth seeing. He'd also indicated the place he'd worked as a teenager alongside his mother and had earned enough money to buy his first record. 

He looked blissful as he got to work on his third slice. It was a real contrast to how he'd anxiously picked at food backstage for two weeks. Her own eating was interrupted by her phone buzzing in her pocket and she excused herself to take the call outside. 

"Hello?"

"Hello, Tessa?" The familiar voice of her old boss from her job in London came through from the unknown number and she smiled to herself. 

"Daniel! How are you?"

"I'm great, Tessa. I couldn't believe it when your name appeared on my desk."

Her heart fluttered. He'd gotten the job application she had sent before flying to Europe with Brandon. After so long, she'd figured her application had been disregarded, either because she hadn't made the cut or because he was mad at her for her hurried resignation five years ago.

"It's been a while, huh."

Daniel sighed, "It sure has. I was worried, you've been pretty uncontactable all these years. A disappearing act to be proud of."

Those words from anyone else might have stung, but Tessa's heart warmed at the thought that someone had been trying to check in on her over the years. Especially someone who still worked with Jack. 

"That was until I saw a familiar face next to a certain rockstar."

She laughed, "Yeah, I figured you'd seen that. I noticed you chose not to publish it. I appreciate that."

"I would never do that without your permission. Anyway, Jack was the one who brought the photo to me, and it didn't seem appropriate to get involved in any underlying issues between the two of you," He paused, but Tessa couldn't find the words to respond, "I'm sorry, Tessa. Maybe I should have run the story, then at least he wouldn't have been able to sell it elsewhere."

She shook her head even though Daniel couldn't see her. She should have known some of the journalists, critics and bloggers at The Desired Effect listening party would have known her ex. Her spine tingled unpleasantly at the thought of him receiving the photo and selling it to the tabloids. She suddenly felt as anxious as she had 5 years ago while she waited for a plane to take her as far away as she could afford.

"Tess?"

"Sorry, I'm still here," She said quickly, "Uh I didn't know he was the one who..."

"Yeah," Daniel said quietly, "You know Jack, anything for some extra cash."

She muttered her agreement and glanced through the window of the diner, where Brandon was still working on their food. She suddenly felt incredibly grateful to have him - he was such a genuinely good person and she hadn't felt a minute of the anxiety Jack had caused her constantly since she'd been with him. She also felt extremely guilty that her past had thrown his personal life into the spotlight. He'd been asked about her in interviews because of that picture.

"Anyway, Tess," Daniel said, his tone shifting to a more lighthearted one, "Your application was, of course, outstanding. I wanted to extend an interview offer to you. You know I'd hire you on the spot, but the other editors will want to talk to you. How's Thursday at 10am? Do you have a Skype address?"

Butterflies flooded Tessa's stomach as she thanked her old boss and accepted his offer. Brandon frowned at her as she walked back into the diner and she smiled at him - realising her face was probably a mess of the various emotions she'd just been through. 

"Sorry, I got carried away," He smiled sheepishly at the two slices of pizza left, "We can order more?"

"It's fine, you take one and I'll take the other," She laughed as he dived on the closest slice to him, "So... Before we went to Europe I applied for a job."

Brandon's eyebrows raised and he nodded encouragingly, "Oh, that's great! I didn't realise you were looking."

"I kinda wasn't," She explained, "But a position unexpectedly came up at the magazine I worked for in London."

Brandon's face fell, "You're thinking of moving back to London?"

"No, Brandon, oh my god," She reached over and took his hand, "It's a remote position. Copy-editing. They'll send me stuff and I'll send it back to them, from anywhere in the world."

Brandon visibly relaxed and grinned at her, "And you got it?"

"I got an interview. Thursday."

"You have to get to London by Thursday?!"

"No, honey" She laughed, "Skype. Technology is amazing, you know."

Brandon screwed up his nose, "I didn't know they could do that. That's great, baby. Why didn't you tell me you were applying?"

She shrugged, "Didn't think I'd get it. I burned some bridges when I just disappeared."

He nodded and looked at her thoughtfully for a couple of seconds, "Does Jack still work there?"

"Yeah. And uh... My old boss said Jack is the one that sold that picture of us at your listening party."

Brandon scowled, "What the fuck?"

"I'm so sorry..."

"No!" His face brightened, "Not you! What the fuck made him think that was ok to do to you? He has nothing to do with you anymore."

"Sure," She sighed and nervously rubbed her neck, "But I don't think he cares. He didn't react well to the break-up. And me disappearing the way I did means it's been a while since he had the chance to twist the knife."

Brandon slid out of his seat and onto the one beside her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Normally, Tessa hated feeling like anyone was pitying her. She wanted to feel strong. But she relaxed into Brandon's embrace instantly.

"You know you're safe here, right?"

"I do," She looked up at him, "I'm so grateful for you. I love you so fucking much."

Brandon giggled, "I love you so fucking much too."

He kissed her head tenderly, before calling the waitress over to their table, "Two slices of your white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake please. And two chocolate milkshakes."

Tessa raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged.

"We're celebrating."

"You're gonna be in a sugar rush until next week."

"Yup. Don't care. I'm so proud of you. Plus I've been eyeing that dessert counter since we got here."

Tessa wrapped her own arms around him so they were awkwardly side-hugging.

"We look weird."

"We do," He mumbled against her hair, "We're the gross couple everyone around us hates. I hate us."

"I hate that you made me romantic."

Brandon snorted and slid back to his side of the table, "You are not romantic, Miss Campbell."

"I can be romantic!"

He cocked his eyebrow at her and dipped his finger into the ranch, "Uh huh."

Tessa pouted dramatically at him, "Ok fine. I'm not that good at it. But I don't retch when you say romantic things and honestly that's an improvement."


	27. Chapter 27

Brandon climbed into the driver's seat with a huff and gulped down a bottle of water. He knew taking Tessa for a run in Red Cliffs with his nephew would be a mistake because damn, she was quick. And significantly fitter than him. He wasn't sure his worn out legs were gonna get them all the way back to Vegas. He pulled the end of his t-shirt up to wipe the sweat off his face and tried to slow his heaving chest.

He frowned as he caught Tessa eyeing him from the passenger seat, and he could have sworn she blushed when she looked away. But it was hot, and they'd just run for over an hour, so he brushed it off as exertion. 

"You ok over there old fella?" 

He grunted an ambiguous noise and slid his seat into the reclined position.

"I'm fine," He said cheerily, "I'm just dying."

Tessa snorted and splashed some water from her bottle over his face, making him gasp and shoot back into an upright position.

"Hey, I kept up with a 27 year old and a 21 year old! Leave me alone!"

"You're a true inspiration to the others in your retirement home."

Brandon couldn't keep a straight face as he pulled them out of the parking lot. He didn't mind her teasing, and besides, being stuck running behind her had its benefits. He was pretty sure the only thing that kept him going to the end was the shorts she was wearing. 

They drove in comfortable silence, Tessa staring out the window and gently humming to whatever was on the radio. Brandon cracked his jaw as he slowed behind a growing traffic jam. 

"Shit," He muttered, examining the curve of traffic that went on as far as he could see. Apparently this wouldn't be such an easy journey. 

"There must have been an accident," Tessa said, frowning as she craned her neck to see as far into the distance as she could, "This isn't standard traffic."

Brandon nodded and drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, "Well, we can wait and hope it clears quicker than it looks like it will, or we can pull off onto one of these dirt roads - which would usually take longer but don't have any traffic."

As he turned his head to wait for her answer, he caught her watching his fingers drum against the wheel. She quickly snapped her head around to look at him.

"Uh, I guess dirt roads?" She said with a cough.

Brandon nodded in agreement and hit his indicator, pulling them onto the exit they had luckily come to a stop beside. Tessa turned the radio off, knowing they would lose signal in the open. 

"See this is where my 'ridiculous' car has its strengths," He grinned at her as he hit one of the millions of buttons on the dash that would take them into off-road mode.

"It didn't need to be orange though, did it?"

Brandon giggled and watched in his mirror as a dirt cloud flew up behind them. This was his favourite way to drive. 

"I've been working on a song," He said softly, still nervous to bring his ideas to people after all these years.

Tessa smiled, "Oh yeah?"

He nodded, clearing his throat as he stared at the road ahead.

We're building up a kingdom  
We pray it never falls  
I can lose my temper  
You can put up walls

He looked at her cautiously out of the corner of his eye. He'd been thinking about the melody of this song for a while, but it was only when he'd thought about the night she'd had a panic attack in her kitchen that he'd started to craft some content for it. Her brow was slightly furrowed as she picked at the centre console of the car. When he stopped she looked up at him, her expression unreadable. He decided to continue with the part he'd written in Bern as he watched her face in the dim light, brilliantly illuminated by intermittent cracks of lightning. 

I can't get you out of my mind  
To get you out of my bed  
To get you out of my heart  
And my head

Chancing another look at her, he saw a slight smile play across her lips and inwardly sighed in relief. 

Oh, we're falling

He shrugged as he stopped, the confidence he felt when he sang fading back into nerves, "It's not finished..."

"Do you know how amazing you are?" Tessa asked, surprising him. 

"Uh..." He giggled slightly, his cheeks reddening, "Thanks?"

"You're so amazing," She said, staring out her window. 

Brandon glanced over at her again and he could practically see her brain cogs turning. Eventually she turned to face him. 

"I don't mean to put up walls," She said quietly. 

He nodded, "I know. I don't mean to lose my temper," He rubbed his jaw nervously as he thought about how to explain himself, "It was just that one time... I love you and I wanted to record how..." He took a breath as Tessa squeezed his arm supportively, "I thought you were heading back to that place when you found out about Jack and the photo. I never want you to feel like that again."

Tessa swallowed as she held back the threat of tears, "Building up the kingdom," She said softly and he nodded, glad that she was understanding what was behind his lyrics.

Brandon's own eyes were welling up and he exhaled loudly, "You know I'm here to help you get through anything."

"I know," She nodded appreciatively, breaking into a smile, "And I like the song."

"I wouldn't even consider bringing it to the guys if you don't want me to."

"No," She chuckled, "You gotta. That's too good."

\--

The sun was setting as Brandon spotted the neon lights of Vegas in the distance. Reaching up to crack his neck, he dragged his fingers down the stubble starting to form on his skin.

"Do you have any idea how hot that is?" Tessa blurted out and Brandon looked at her in surprise.

"Me cracking my neck?"

"You cracking your anything."

Brandon giggled and stroked his chin as Tessa ran her finger along the vein in his arm, making him shiver.

"I know you hate this car, but you gotta stop trying to make me crash it."

"There is literally nothing here to crash into," She laughed, "You're really sexy when you drive."

Brandon bit his bottom lip, "Ok, horndog. We'll be home in like thirty minutes."

Tessa nodded slowly and leaned over the console to kiss his neck. His whole body tensed and he instinctively slowed the car down, which seemed to encourage her to take her seatbelt off and kiss him more passionately.

"You can't wait thirty minutes?" He laughed, enjoying the sensation of her nibbling on his earlobe.

"Nope," She replied, bringing her hand over to cup his bulge through his track pants. 

He let out a strangled grunt and dropped one hand from the steering wheel to hold her wrist just away from him enough to stop her from creating any friction. Turning his head to look at her he felt his own desire skyrocket at her blown pupils and the way her bottom lip was hanging temptingly open. 

"Fuck," He breathed and pulled the car off the deserted dirt road, unbuckling his own seatbelt and crashing his lips into hers. 

She moaned as he gripped the back of her head, tugging on her hair as her hands returned to his chest and she dug her nails in slightly. He pulled her head away from him and indicated the back of the car away from the console that was keeping their bodies frustratingly far apart. 

He stepped out of the car and hurried around to the back, where Tessa pounced on top of him as soon as he sat down. He lay across the seats with her straddling his waist as the car filled with obscene noises. A loud buzz made Brandon jump and Tessa pulled away from his mouth in confusion. On the second buzz Brandon realised his phone was set to automatically connect to the car when he was in it. He groaned and looked at the screen in the front. 

📞 Dave calling

"Motherfucker," Brandon hissed.

Tessa giggled, "It's fine."

In any other universe Brandon would have ignored the guitarist's call, but he'd been trying to get hold of him for a couple of weeks to discuss the next album. He couldn't afford to let this slip by. 

"Dave?" He said loudly as he hit the button to accept the call, lying back down and trying to ignore the discomfort in his pants. 

"Hey Brando," Dave said cheerfully over the speakers, "I looked at the schedule. The studio is free for two months next Summer. Will you be done then?"

Brandon snorted at Dave's roundabout way of asking him how the tour was going. He was about to reply when Tessa pushed his t-shirt up to his neck and began to plant wet kisses over his ribs.

"Uh... J--" He bit his hand as she swirled her tongue over his nipple, "July. Mid July I'm done."

He pushed on Tessa's shoulders in an attempt to make her stop. This turned out to be a mistake as she just moved further down, kissing and biting over his hip bones and along the waistband of his pants. 

"Cool, man," Dave's casual voice surprised him again as he got lost in the sensation, "We can get the last two weeks of July and all of August."

"Fine, ahhh--" Brandon let out a noise he'd rather Dave didn't hear as Tessa kissed the outline of his hard-on through the unbearably thin material of his pants, "That's fine, Dave, I gotta go."

"Whatever dude, talk soon." 

He was going to pay for that later. Dave was notoriously moody. But right now, he couldn't give less of a shit. He sat up to hit the end call button and pulled Tessa onto his lap, kissing her harshly as she grinned against his lips. 

"Not cool," He breathed, lowering his mouth to the arch of her breast and sinking his teeth in.

Tessa yelped, "You don't seem to mind."

Brandon groaned as she rolled her hips against his teasingly slowly. He brought his hands to her hips and pushed her down onto him, smiling to himself at her gasp. 

"I need you now, Brandon," She breathed heavily, her hand dropping into his pants and stroking him firmly. 

He grunted as her thumb grazed over his tip and he pushed her off him enough that he could pull her shorts and panties down, drawing his fingers between her legs as she half stood in front of him. She let out the most delicious moan and he felt himself twitch in his pants as he pushed two fingers into her. When he was satisfied with her pleads for more, he shimmied his own pants and briefs down his legs and let Tessa kneel across him again. 

Tessa grabbed his hands, interlocking their fingers and pushing them against the backrest of the chair as she brought herself down on him. Their breathy curses mixed with each other's names as they enjoyed the first contact. Tessa began to rhythmically move up and down, smirking when Brandon let out a frustrated groan when she wouldn't release his hands from their prison away from her body. 

"Do you want me to let go?" She asked him when he pushed back, worried that his arms were at an uncomfortable angle. 

Brandon's hooded eyes met hers and he whimpered a little as she sped up the roll of her hips.

"No."

Tessa smiled as she buried her face in his neck, peppering the skin with obscene kisses and revelling as Brandon began bucking his hips up to meet hers - the only movement he could really achieve in their current position. 

Losing control as Brandon's hips thrusted in time with her own movements, Tessa moaned loudly and let go. Brandon landed a firm smack against her ass with one of his now free hands and she yelped in surprise. Grabbing her hips harshly, he began moving her even faster than her already quick pace.

"Bran--" She gasped as she saw stars, crying out a series of expletives. 

Brandon swore and pulled her hips down roughly onto him as he came, his hands sliding up her back as she collapsed against his shoulder, still muttering her own curses. 

"Can we go home now?" Brandon laughed as she climbed off him and pulled her shorts up.

Tessa giggled, still a little breathless and steadying herself on the seat as her legs began to shake from the combined effort of their run this morning and this unplanned additional exercise. 

Brandon squeezed her slightly shaky thigh as they climbed into the front, leaning across to kiss her softly before turning the headlights on and making their way to Vegas. 

"I stand by that your car is ridiculous," Tessa giggled, "But I did appreciate the headroom back there."


	28. Chapter 28

"Where's your wifey?" Ronnie asked with a smirk as he settled on a bar stool in Brandon's kitchen.

"Office," Brandon gestured vaguely with his thumb through the living room, ignoring Ronnie's teasing, "She has that interview today."

"Right," Ronnie nodded, "I hope she moved your Oasis poster. That would be a weird impression to make."

Brandon giggled, "She just sat on the other side of the desk. Perfectly nice backdrop of... like, a plant?"

"That's the wall your guitars are on," Ronnie reminded him.

"Right! Guitars. Yeah."

Ronnie shook his head at his friend's disregard for his 'home' and everything in it. He'd often wondered why Brandon didn't just move out, but he didn't really want to be the one to push the topic. Besides, when their studio was booked by someone else, the gorgeous place he was currently in was the most appealing alternative. Anyone else would be smitten with this place.

"So you and Tom will come over Christmas Eve, right?" Brandon asked from the fridge.

"Yup," Ronnie confirmed their holiday plans to have a dinner party and go for a morning hike on Christmas Day, "How does 2pm sound?"

"Perfect. Food should be ready by then."

Ronnie couldn't hold back a snort and Brandon put his hand on his hip as he shut the door.

"What's so funny?"

"You're cooking?" Ronnie screwed up his nose, "Is it too late for us to back out? I'd rather not get food poisoning right on Christmas."

Brandon's jaw dropped and he stuck his middle finger up at Ronnie, "How dare you. You can't back out if I un-invite you."

"I got there first. And you did actually give me food poisoning once, so I'm allowed to be concerned."

"So fucking rude... But I'm not cooking," He dropped his angry facade with a giggle, "I hired a chef."

"You've changed," Ronnie pointed his drink at Brandon, "I remember when you stole food from the Gold Coast because you spent all your money on a shitty out-of-tune keyboard. Remember who you are, boy."

Brandon snorted, "Thanks, dad. I can cook if you would pref--"

"So you were saying Dave called?" Ronnie interrupted him, unwilling to even entertain the thought of his friend's cooking. 

"Oh, yeah. He wants to get back in the studio next summer."

Ronnie narrowed his eyes as he examined Brandon's coy smile, "What's that look about? Did Dave say something?"

"Huh?" Brandon's eyes widened and Ronnie could have sworn he saw him blush, "Nothing! I'm uh... excited about getting back in the studio. I have ideas. Dave's call was... um, nice."

Ronnie hummed suspiciously but decided to drop it, "So do you think he's for real?"

"I mean, this is the most convinced I've been," Brandon sighed, "But I guess we don't know until we're literally in the studio with him. I did get hold of Mark though, and he's booked a flight back here for those weeks. So that's something!"

Ronnie nodded thoughtfully. Brandon had always been more lenient on Dave's flakiness, he was a way more patient person. Ronnie had his doubts but he hoped the summer would at least bring some kind of mutually agreeable arrangement.

"So how was your weekend?" Brandon raised an eyebrow and leaned across the table.

"Fine thanks, yours?" Ronnie said innocently.

"Ronald!"

"It was fantastic," Ronnie laughed, "Tom's a great guy."

He had spent a long weekend with Tom in the mountains, hiking and camping. Although they'd been hanging out a lot, it had been the first time they had been alone together for a prolonged period of time and, much to Ronnie's relief, they had gotten along even better than they had been. Since Ronnie had picked the weekend's activities, Tom was choosing their date night plans tonight. Ronnie was almost certain he was going to be dragged around an ice rink, but he would probably let Tom drag him around anywhere.

Brandon rolled his eyes, "I'm having deja vu of when you hounded me about Tessa and I said she was 'pretty'. Do better."

"Ok, Tom's very pretty," Ronnie smiled, teasing Brandon about the way he had responded to similar questioning months earlier. 

Brandon was about to respond when they heard a click in the living room signalling the office door had opened. 

"Hey babe! How did it go?" He shouted.

"I got it," She grinned and emerged through the living room, whipping her hair out of the ponytail she had pulled it into for the interview, "More importantly, you did not tell me you kept this."

"Jesus Christ," Ronnie burst out laughing as Tessa shimmied into the room.

She was wearing the red feather shoulder harness Brandon wore in The Killer's Spaceman music video. 

Brandon giggled, "Yeah, because you'd make me wear it."

"Wrong," Tessa raised an eyebrow, "I will be wearing it. To the bank, out for brunch, doctor's appointments..."

Brandon cut her off by putting his hand over her mouth and wrapping his other arm around her, picking her up off the ground and swinging her in a circle. Tessa laughed and patted his back to indicate he should let her breathe. 

"I knew you would nail it," He smiled, "Please don't tell me you wore that during the interview?"

"Of course not. I just showed Daniel after the other interviewers left."

"Congrats, girl!" Ronnie held up his can of coke.

"Thanks Ron."

"We should celebrate," Brandon frowned, looking around the room as if he had a stash of party supplies hidden somewhere so good he had forgotten about it. 

"Babe, no," Tessa chuckled, sliding into a seat opposite Ronnie and preening the feathers on her shoulders with her fingers, "I barely slept a wink last night I was so nervous. Let's just chill."

Brandon nodded and glanced at Ronnie, "Did they mention anything..."

"Jack got a promotion," Tessa said, predicting the end of his sentence, "And he's getting married, apparently. I assume you're up to date, Ron?"

Tessa smiled at Ronnie as he nodded sheepishly, squeezing Brandon's arm to reassure him that it was ok he had told his friend about her relationship history. She slipped the feathery shoulder pads over her head and set them on the counter.

"So that's two exes getting married, huh?" Ronnie asked.

"Two?" Tessa frowned as she racked her brain for any other news she'd heard. Of course, with her up and leaving her whole life back in the UK, she hadn't exactly kept in touch with enough people to keep her in the loop.

"Tom and I ran into Jason a couple of days ago," Ronnie shrugged, "He said something about your college girlfriend eloping."

Tessa raised her eyebrows, "Huh. Good for her. Her parents never approved of her sexuality, so I guess the eloping makes sense. But I hope she's happy." 

She made a mental note to take a look on some social media or something later. Savannah and her had stayed friends after they broke up, and she felt another pang of guilt at the people she'd left behind. She would have to send her a congratulations card or something. Start to rebuild some bridges. She had kind of cut off everyone when she only meant to cut off one.

"Hey," Brandon said softly as Ronnie moved into the living room and flopped onto the couch in front of the TV with his legs stretched out, "You ok?"

She shrugged, avoiding making eye contact with him as she pushed herself off her stool and rummaged in the fridge. She wasn't hungry. 

You can put up walls.

The memory of Brandon's song on their drive home made her stand up straight again. Sighing, she closed the fridge and turned to face him. His face was riddled with concern. How could I ever let him worry like that?

"Jack is marrying a woman called Natasha," She started, making a concerted effort to keep eye contact with Brandon. She loved him, and he deserved the truth. Keeping it bottled up inside her would do neither of them any good.

Brandon nodded, "Ok."

She exhaled loudly as she forced the words out, "The reason I finally decided to leave him was because I actually caught him with a woman. In our bed," She let out a frustrated half-laugh, "That woman was called Natasha."

"Hell," Brandon frowned, "You literally saw him..."

"Yep."

Brandon nodded and closed the gap between them to pull her into a hug, "That's the worst feeling in the world."

She squeezed his sides as she remembered that he had caught a girlfriend cheating on him too. 

"Wanna write a song about it?"

She could feel a laugh rumble in his chest, "Sure thing, darlin'. I've never sworn on a record before. It's about time I did."

She giggled as he let go of her, leaning on the counter with one hand as he looked at her with soft eyes that made her want to melt into a puddle at his feet.

"I don't know why that stood out to me," She frowned, feeling the lifting weight as she shared her thoughts with him, "I don't think it would have been any better or worse to hear that it was someone else? I guess I was just caught off guard to hear that name again."

Brandon nodded, "That's understandable. You've been repressing the hell out of this for a long time."

"Yeah. I don't like thinking about that part. I mean, I already knew he was cheating. Why did I make myself see that? Go through that extra heartache? Was I expecting him to apologise and kiss it better?"

She looked up to see Brandon's brow furrowed in thought. Her tiredness washing over her, she sighed and kissed the tip of his nose.

"I'm so tired," She said apologetically, "Would it be super rude of me to go nap while Ronnie's here?"

Brandon giggled, "Of course not. We wanted to talk through some of our ideas for the next album anyway."

He followed Tessa into the living room where she apologised to Ronnie and disappeared upstairs. Joining his friend on the couch, Brandon snatched a pen and paper from the coffee table (his entire house was littered with materials to help him write when he felt something) and began scribbling. 

"Whatcha got there?" Ronnie piped up, leaning over so he could read Brandon's messy scrawl. 

What are you waiting for, a kiss or an apology?

Brandon smirked at him, "Don't you think it's about damn time I finished Run For Cover?"


	29. Chapter 29

Brandon swung Tessa's hand dramatically into the air as they wandered along The Strip, his other hand clutching their Christmas purchases. She'd been outraged that he didn't yet have his own tree - or any decorations - and had dragged him through the door immediately to rectify it. Truth was, Brandon had always spent Christmas in Utah with his family or holed up in Ronnie's lake house with the guys. He'd hated being in his house. But that had changed this year, with Tessa staying over pretty much every night and the house slowly beginning to feel like a more normal place for him to be. And the effects of that had culminated in deciding that he should be the one to finally host guests, instead of the other way around. 

"Ok, we got a tree," Tessa held up her free hand to count off the items on her fingers, "Lights, tinsel, baubles, assorted decorations, an inflatable snowman..."

Brandon giggled as she raised an eyebrow at him. He'd insisted on it. If they couldn't have snow, they were going to have the next best option. Besides, a kid who lived near him growing up had had one. This was a personal life goal.

"Do you have everything for the party itself?"

"Our chef, Marina, is providing the food, I'll pick up some drinks and stuff before they arrive tomorrow."

"I meant like, plates and shit. Napkins."

Brandon rolled his eyes, "I have plates. I am an actual adult, you know."

Tessa shrugged, "Just checking. And don't give me that sass, Lovejoy, I had to buy surface cleaner for you. Nothing can be taken for granted anymore."

Brandon pouted. She did indeed have to buy surface cleaner, because Brandon stayed in the place so infrequently and had cleaners in to do the work for him so often that he couldn't figure out where it was kept. He knew there was a bottle in there somewhere, he just couldn't find it. 

He tugged on her hand as they reached Caesar's Palace, pulling her inside to peruse The Forum shops. She waited patiently as he checked on an order he'd made in YSL, smiling approvingly at the shirts the stylist pulled out of fancy looking boxes for him. 

"I like the red," She said quietly as Brandon ran his hand over the material.

"Yeah?" He frowned, "It's not in keeping with everything else for this tour, but I like it too."

"Ok, so what's the aesthetic of the next album, Mr Flowers?" She teased.

Brandon giggled, "More grown up. Or at least, that's the direction the songs all seem to be headed in."

"Well the red would work for that."

He agreed with her and purchased the red patterned shirt, along with a few others that were more appropriate for the current tour. While they stood at the checkout, Tessa nudged him with her elbow. 

"I should get some new underwear," She said, indicating the shop across the way, "They look like they're having a sale."

Brandon blushed involuntarily as he read the Agent Provocateur sign, wondering how he admitted to his girlfriend that he hadn't set foot in a lingerie shop since he was chased out of one as a curious preteen. Tessa looked up at his fearful expression and laughed.

"I'll protect you. I promise it isn't that scary. Plus full-price bras are insane, I can't just walk past that sale."

Brandon nodded and followed her into the shop, keeping his eyes as low as possible while he still had Tessa in his view. He stopped when Tessa stopped and tried to keep his reddened face under control as she scanned the display. They seemed to have every colour of underwear under the sun. 

"Brandon," She giggled, "You are allowed to look away from the floor."

He rolled his eyes and muttered an 'I know' under his breath as he took in the shelves for the first time. His eyes widened as he spotted a basket of what looked like riding crops. One of them had a giant paddle on the end, while another had long black feathers.

"What is THAT," He pointed at them, reading the attached sign that said 'feel the power'.

"Oh my god," Tessa pushed his face away, redirecting his eye-line to the less kinky goods, "It's ok, Bray, that's not what I'm looking for."

Brandon nodded and refocused his eyes on the lingerie as Tessa began to pluck items off the wall. He hummed approvingly at a matching red lace set she selected and she snickered. 

"Any special requests, Flowers?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I like that."

She laughed again as he went bright red and pointed at a blue satin bra. She picked her size off the shelf and turned to find the checkout. 

"Wait," Brandon's hand landed on her arm and she looked up at him, "I wanna see what else is here."

She gave him a single nod, too surprised to speak, and walked by his side to the next aisle, praying they wouldn't come across anything too traumatising. 

"Thongs are so weird," He muttered, more to himself than to her as he put a finger under the skimpy material. 

Moving to the next aisle, Tessa had to bite her lip to stop her from laughing. She slid her phone out of her pocket as Brandon walked tentatively along the aisle, snapping a picture of his part-confused, part-alarmed, part-aroused face as he read the tag on one of the many vibrators and sex toys. She immediately sent the picture to Tom, who replied almost instantly.

Tom: oh my gOD I'M SCREAMIN G

T: WHY WOULD YOU LET HIM SEE THAT

T: IS HE OK

T: SHOULD I CALL AN AMBULANCE OR LIKE A PRIEST OR WHATEVER MORMONS HAVE

T: I THINK YOU'VE MURDERED MY BOYFRIEND

T: HE'S CHOKING ON A PRETZEL

"Tessa!" Brandon's voice made her look up from Tom's manic texts, where he was pointing at a box with his eyes wide, "This one moulds to a real penis!"

"Ok," She let out the laugh she'd been holding in, "That's enough! You're starting to enjoy this too much."

She ignored Brandon's wide eyes as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the counter, paying as quickly as possible before he spotted something else to gawk at. They left the shop with Brandon still asking questions.

"But it spun! Like this!" Brandon pointed his finger and started rotating it, "No penis can do that."

"That's the point, babe," She explained, zipping up her jacket again as they walked back into the cooling nighttime air. 

Brandon's brow furrowed and his mouth opened to ask another question, but he was cut short by a group of tourists approaching them.

"Oh my god, are you--" A small girl stuttered.

"Brandon Flowers!" The man beside her gasped, looking Brandon up and down as if he was trying to be sure he was really there. 

"Uh yeah," Brandon smiled, "Hi! How are you guys doing?"

The girl who had spoken initially and a few of her friends behind her started to squeal and Brandon looked around nervously. Tessa slid a hand onto his back and rubbed it, smiling supportively at him as looked down. He mouthed a 'thanks' at her before returning to his fans. 

"Can I take a picture for you?" Tessa offered, sliding the bags Brandon was carrying off his wrist and holding out her hand for the phone.

"No!" One of the men cried, and Brandon's head snapped up defensively, "You gotta be in it! It's Tessa, right? One of our friends met you in at the show in Milan! She said you were the coolest. Will you be in the picture with us? She'll be so jealous!"

Brandon relaxed as the explanation came forward, and he grinned at Tessa who was thinking back to the short conversation she'd had with someone in the Milan crowd who recognised her from the picture online.

"Oh, uh sure?" She blushed, "If you want?"

The group all agreed enthusiastically, flagging down a passerby to take the photo instead. 

"Psst, put that here," One of the girls said quietly to Tessa, guiding the branded lingerie bag she was holding behind the group.

Tessa blushed and thanked her. They took a few pictures, with Brandon and Tessa standing in the middle, his hand attached firmly around her waist as the others filled in around them. After a million thank yous were given and a few autographs were signed, Brandon and Tessa left the group to make their way back to his car. 

"Your fans are the coolest."

Brandon laughed, "Yeah, most of the time they're awesome."

Tessa glanced at him as he frowned a little. He'd been on edge any time they were in crowds or any time he was recognised since their bizarre arrival in Rome airport almost a month ago. She had been doing her best to comfort him, but the time had never seemed right to broach the subject.

"Has what happened in the airport ever happened before?" 

"No. I mean, we've been rushed by crowds a few times. But I didn't love the..."

His voice faded as he waved his hand in front of his body to indicate the way people had touched him. Tessa took his hand again and squeezed it. 

"We won't let that happen again," She said softly and he smiled appreciatively at her, "I'll start cutting hands off."

Brandon giggled, "Thanks, honey."

\--

Fumbling with his keys with one hand and balancing their Mexican food in the other, Brandon swore under his breath and tapped the door with his foot. He giggled as he heard Tessa swear on the other side of the door as she opened it from the inside. 

"Your locks are so fucking complicated."

"Wow, greetings have really changed since I left the house a couple of hours ago. It's nice to see you too, darlin'."

Tessa flicked his nose and led the way back into the living room, where she had been before he arrived. Brandon smiled to himself as he watched her, her hair piled chaotically on top of her head, his red sweater drooping over her small frame with only the hem of her shorts visible underneath and a pair of Christmas socks on her feet that sparkled tinsel and sequinned fairy lights when the light caught them. She turned around at the doorway, raising an eyebrow at him. 

"Stop staring, creep."

Brandon blushed and giggled, starting to unpack their dinner. 

"No wait," Tessa put her hand out to stop him and beckoned him to the doorway, "Look first, eat later." 

Brandon frowned, trying to read Tessa's mischievous face as he made his way to the living room. 

"If you hate it we can move it back..." She said quietly as his jaw dropped.

It was like he had walked into a someone else's living room. When he'd bought the apartment, he'd bought the furniture that came with it, and barely one item had moved from its display position. The only thing he had added was a TV (which Ronnie had brought with him one day, grumbling about how insane it was to not have a TV in the living room) and his piano. Tessa had moved the couches, angling them to the fireplace he had never used - which now contained a roaring fire - with some small Christmas decorations and pictures of family and friends occupying the mantelpiece. The TV, which had been in front of the unused fireplace, was now settled on a previously lost-looking instrument trunk to the side, with one of his favourite pieces of art which showed a sunrise over the Mojave now above the fireplace - and beautifully illuminated by its light. Turning to his left he saw their Christmas tree, decorated to perfection and glowing with the warm white fairy lights Tessa had picked out and flanked by two armchairs - that he had to assume were his but that he didn't recognise.

"He's a little wonky, but he's cute," Tessa laughed, her hands on her hips as she caught Brandon staring at the tree. There weren't many trees left in stock at this late notice, and they had picked the one that had the most pine needles left, albeit that that one that was leaning slightly to the left.

He looked back at her, noticing for the first time the way her cheeks were slightly red and how the sleeves of his sweater were bunched up to her elbows. She was in work mode.

"You did all this while I was out?"

She shrugged, "I didn't finish it."

He followed her gaze to the staircase, where tinsel and fairy lights were wound around the banister to about the halfway point - where she'd clearly been stopped by him knocking on the door. But the entire rest of the room, from artwork to lamps to the silver stars and snowflakes she had hung from the faux-candle iron chandelier on the ceiling, was perfect. It looked like a home. 

"Holy shit."

He turned to her and she smiled, reading on his face that it was a good 'holy shit' and not a bad one. 

"Now when Ronnie and Tom come over we can look at each other while we speak, instead of each looking at separate walls," She teased. 

"Seriously baby," Brandon shook his head, "This is mind-blowing. I didn't know this room could be... Cosy? Where did you get these?" He asked, stroking the tartan material of a blanket which covered one of the armchairs by the tree.

Tessa snorted, "In a cupboard upstairs. You have like a million blankets and I'm kinda scared to ask why."

"Couldn't always afford heating in the flat Dave and I shared," He explained, "Blankets were our only option."

She nodded, "You made blanket forts, I hear you."

Brandon grinned. She looked as sleepy as she did the night of their first date in the diner - but instead of her face being illuminated by the harsh lights of the diner, it was lit by the warm glow of a fire in the house they were both going to celebrate Christmas in. He wanted her there always. He wanted to fall asleep next to her every night, wake up next to her every morning, come home to her after touring, share meals with her in his stupidly enormous kitchen for one, make this house a home with her. 

"Move in with me."

Tessa's eyes widened and she looked at him as if she wasn't sure he'd really said what he'd said. To be honest, his voice was so quiet, he wasn't sure he'd said it out loud either.

"Move. In. With. Me," He repeated, slowly and clearly, "Or let me move in with you. Or lets buy a new place together. I don't care which, just don't leave me. I want this all the time."

Tessa was smiling now, and he could see tears welling in her eyes.

"God," She half-laughed, "You gotta stop making me cry, dude." 

"Is that a yes?"

"Aren't you supposed to do the marriage question before the living together question?" She teased, remembering how his mother had heavily implied Brandon should propose so they could legitimise their relationship (and start making babies - a suggestion which had caused Tessa to choke on her drink while Brandon cracked up).

"I'm waiting until I know you'll say yes," Brandon smiled softly.

He knew she would think this was way too fast, which was a fair fear to have. But he had been pretty sure he wanted to marry her since she had gone after that spider in her flat like a black ops agent while he cowered on the couch. And he had been 100% sure since the night of the storm in Bern. Every time she tapped his hunched shoulders to remind him to relax, or brought him waffles when he was checking up on the studio, he just got more and more certain.

Tessa blushed and looked at the floor, "That stuff means more to you than it does to me," She said carefully, "And for that reason I don't take it lightly."

He knew that too. Marriage was a big deal to him, but Tessa could happily continue their relationship unmarried. It wouldn't change the way she felt about him or the lengths she would go to for him or their future. He knew she was as committed to him and in love with him as she would be if they were married, and it actually meant a great deal to him that she took it seriously because she know it was important to him.

"I know. There's no rush. I got time," He smiled.

Tessa looked back up at him and giggled, "But I will move in with you."

Brandon grinned at her and closed the gap between them, picking her up off the floor as he buried his face in her neck. This hadn't been how he'd planned to ask that question, but everything about the moment felt right. 

"I love you, Tess."

"I love you too, Brando."


	30. Chapter 30

Tessa twirled the final curl between her fingers as she turned off the curling iron on the dresser in Brandon's room. Their room now, she corrected herself. She ran on her tip-toes to the other side of the bed, where her duffel bag was tucked away, conscious of being in her underwear in front of the panoramic window for too long. Brandon had reassured her a million times over that A) there was no one around for miles, B) there were trees around the perimeter that meant no one could see the house let alone the window, and C) the window was one way glass. But it still felt counterintuitive to stand there so exposed, so running like a lunatic seemed like the right thing to do.

"You have such a great butt," Brandon sighed dramatically as he emerged from the bathroom, with a towel around his waist and his curls dripping water down his chest, "I love your butt."

Tessa wiggled her ass, the only thing Brandon could see as she bent over and dug through her bag, and laughed, "Thank you. It means a lot to us."

"Us?"

"Me and my butt."

Brandon giggled and pushed his hair out of his face, crossing his arms over his chest as he peeked over the bed to see what she was doing. He frowned as he saw her rifling through clothes and glanced around the room, which was draped with Tessa's clothes from the suitcase they had picked up from her place last night.

"What's wrong with all of this stuff?"

"Nothing, it's just..." Tessa's voice faded out and she popped up into an upright position, "Ah-ha!"

Brandon snorted at the bright red knitted sweater that read 'Merry Christmas ya filthy animal'. Tessa held up a finger as she stuck her tongue out of her mouth and fiddled with the hem of the jumper until the words began to flash in multicoloured lights.

"Fuck, that's bad," Brandon giggled.

"Yup!" Tessa grinned at him, "Tom's gonna hate it, and that's my main goal."

Brandon nodded and pulled open a drawer to take out his own terrible sweater - something each of them had agreed to do upon Ronnie's request. A Vannucci family tradition, apparently, something Brandon was clearly familiar with as he had shown Tessa his collection of awful sweaters from the last few years.

"Oh god," Tessa laughed as he held it over his bare chest, a green sweater with a small Christmas pudding over each nipple.

"I had to go off-piste," Brandon grinned, "I'd already worn all of the ones in the men's department."

"Suits you," She teased as he pulled the sweater over his head, "Especially with the towel, I would say that's a peak Las Vegas look."

Brandon stuck out his tongue as he disappeared into the bathroom to tame his hair with some product and Tessa glanced at the clock as she got dressed. Tom and Ronnie would be arriving in a short time, and they planned to eat before they all headed out to enjoy Christmas Eve in the city. Tugging at the neck of her sweater (why were these things always so uncomfortable?) she looked out over the view from her new home. She felt a little teary as she started to appreciate how much her life had changed from the chaos of the last five years of figuring out who to spend Christmas with and in which part of the world. It felt like she finally had roots again.

She smiled over her shoulder at Brandon as he wound an arm around her waist and kissed her neck softly.

"You good?" He asked quietly, squeezing her in his arms and placing his chin on her head.

"I have never been better," She smiled at him in the faint reflection of the window.

\--

"So like a hundred people now have footage and picture evidence of Ronnie Vannucci Jr. dragging Brandon Flowers around an ice rink, it's a Christmas miracle!" Tom spluttered, cracking himself up again as Brandon and Ronnie shook their heads and slid out of their coats in the kitchen.

"It wasn't that bad!" Brandon protested.

"It freaks me out when you call me by my full name," Ronnie frowned, "And it was that bad, Brandon, you were like a baby deer."

Tessa giggled at their two totally different responses to Tom's teasing, and hopped onto a bar stool, blowing warm breath on her hands while the coffee pot brewed. Winter here wasn't cold - compared to what she was used to in Scotland - but the ice rink had been cold. And there was a cool air in the night that just about made her shiver. Brandon pouted at her in the hope of support.

"Sorry babe, Ron's right," She laughed, "You were like Bambi out there. Why are your legs so long?"

Ronnie nodded, "He's only 5 foot 10 but he has the legs of a 6 foot 3 man."

"I'm 5'11."

"Sure you are, big guy."

Tessa giggled as Brandon's puffed chest deflated and he frowned at Ronnie. Sliding into the barstool beside her, Tom poked her in the stomach as the bandmates continued their very important argument over that inch.

"Do you ever just have an out-of-body moment where you realise how weird all this is?" Tom shook his head as their boyfriends took the discussion to the living room, where the small dining table Brandon and Tessa had brought from her apartment was still littered with the bare remains of their lunch. Her heart fluttered at the sight of the beautiful plates he had bought for them in Siena. Eight of them. She would have to ask him later how long he had been planning on asking her to move in.

"Oh hell yeah," She nodded, "All the time. Did you hear Mr Brightside playing as we left the rink?"

"Yes! My soul left my body. And they didn't even seem to notice!"

"I know. And when they were taking pictures with those fans and one of them called them the 'coolest' people on the planet?"

Tom snorted, "Yeah, we should have told them that Brandon Flowers erected a ten foot inflatable snowman in his front yard and Ronald Vannucci Jr. cried for forty minutes after I made him watch Up for the first time."

"It's a sad fucking movie," Ronnie shouted from the living room and Tom winced.

"You heard that?"

"My ears are drawn to the word 'Up'," Ronnie stroked his beard and frowned, "I'm still holding back the tears right now, to be honest."

\--

"They're pretty cute, you gotta admit," Tessa smiled and cocked her head at the pile of limbs under blankets on the couch that was Tom and Ronnie.

"Oh that would be adorable," Brandon agreed, "If one of them wasn't snoring like an angry boar."

"It's Ronnie."

"Yeah, evidently he's worse when someone is lying on top of him. I shouldn't have complained so much about his solo snoring on the bus. Poor Tom."

Tessa laughed quietly and nestled her head back into Brandon's shoulder as she toyed with the buttons on the flannel he had changed into when they got back from ice skating. They were sharing the armchair, Tessa on Brandon's knee with her legs draped over the armrest. Tom and Ronnie had claimed the couch to make out on and then fallen asleep pretty much at exactly the same time. The amount of wine they had consumed between them while It's A Wonderful Life was playing probably had something to do with that. Neither of them had made it past the one hour mark.

"I don't know why they wanted the blanket, it's so warm in here."

Tessa raised an eyebrow at him, "I'm pretty sure they were using the blanket to hide what was going on, not for warmth."

Brandon looked horrified, "What was going on?!"

"There was way too much movement going on over there for it to just be making out."

"What? Ew! We're right here!"

Tessa snorted, "I threw that cushion at them, that seemed to stop things before they went further."

Brandon looked at her with wide eyes, "Oh my gosh! I thought you were mad they weren't paying attention to the movie."

Tessa laughed and snuggled her face against his neck, feeling sleepy as soon as the credits began to roll onto the screen. Brandon hummed happily and took his hand off her waist where he had been comfortably hugging her against him for the past few hours. He placed his hand under her knee, and she kissed him slowly when he smiled at her, sleepiness written across his own face.

"I'm so happy you don't have to leave."

She smiled as he mumbled against her lips, stroking the stubble across his chin with her thumb, "Me too."

Brandon brought their lips together again, slowly running his hand up her outer thigh as their kiss got more intense. Tessa laughed quietly when he let out a strange noise against her lips as his hand ghosted over her upper thigh.

"Is that..."

"I don't know what you're talking about," She looked at him innocently.

Brandon narrowed his eyes and dipped his fingers under her skirt, following the same line he just had without the barrier of the material of her skirt. He exhaled loudly as his fingers reached the top of a stocking, and grinned at her when his finger slid under the clip of the garter belt holding them up.

"You were not wearing those earlier."

Tessa laughed, "Good work, Sherlock. I changed when we got home."

"There's no way that's 'more comfortable'," Brandon laughed as he remembered what she said as she disappeared upstairs to take off the scratchy Christmas sweater.

"No one ever means it when they say they're changing into something 'more comfortable'. Besides, it's part of your Christmas gift."

Brandon groaned and kissed her hard again, his fingers still tracing the top of the stocking. Tessa snickered as he protested when she pushed him away so she could stand up, taking his hand and guiding him as quietly and quickly up the stairs as they could manage.

As soon as they were through the door of their bedroom Brandon's hands flew to Tessa's waist and he pushed her back against the door harshly, slipping his tongue into her mouth as her fingers raked through his hair. She moaned quietly when his hands dropped to push her skirt up, where he broke their kiss and smiled as he slid his fingers under the garter belt around her waist.

"This is so much better than some plates," He whispered.

Tessa laughed and shook her head, "Who said the rest of your gift isn't crockery?"

Brandon rolled his eyes and stepped away from her to take off his shirt, watching as she unbuttoned and shimmied out of her skirt. She raised an eyebrow at his dumb smiley face as she pulled her black t-shirt over her head, laughing out loud when he squeaked in delight as he saw the blue satin bra he had picked in Agent Provocateur.

"Your poker face needs work," She said, trying not to laugh more at his dumbfounded expression.

"It's not my face that would be the problem in this game," Brandon frowned, looking down at the bulge in his jeans where they sat half unbuttoned from when he had gotten distracted.

Tessa let out the laugh she had been trying to hold in and closed the gap between them, kissing his jaw as his hands came to rest on her shoulder blades, stroking over the material that rested there with a sigh. She smiled as she squeezed his ass with both hands and looked up at him.

"You were gonna take your pants off," She reminded him as his eyes opened lazily.

Brandon looked at her and then down between their bodies, his breath hitching again at what she was wearing. As he dragged his eyes back to hers, he had a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"You do it."

Tessa smiled as dropped his hands to his hips. Slowly, she began to kiss down his chest, his hands winding in her hair as she reached his stomach and crouched in front of him, pulling the black denim away until he could kick it off his ankles. A thrill ran through her as she glanced up to see his darkened eyes watching her as she brought her lips to the outline in his briefs. He groaned as she pulled them halfway down his thighs and dragged her tongue up his shaft, taking him into her mouth when she reached the tip. Brandon whimpered as she swirled her tongue, the expression on his face a mix of pleasure and restraint that made her shiver.

"Baby..." He whined softly, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet.

Wrapping his arms around her waist he smiled and kissed her intensely, walking them backwards and kicking his briefs off the rest of the way until the backs of his knees hit one of the armchairs in the corner. He kissed down her body as he sat down and she shuddered as his big hands easily wrapped around her hips to hold her still when he reached the top of her panties. She squirmed as Brandon ran one hand up the inside of her thigh, grazing over where she needed his touch as he grinned up at her.

"You're really gonna tease me after all this?" She let out a half-laugh as she indicated her outfit.

Brandon smiled and brought his lips back to her ribs, kissing and nibbling gently on the skin. Tessa cried out when he pushed her panties to one side and thrust two fingers into her without warning. Brandon's arm wrapped around her hips as he felt her legs shake when he began pumping his fingers, slowly at first but with increasing speed until she dug her nails into his shoulders.

"Brandon..." She breathed, her eyes closed and brow furrowed, "I'm so close."

Brandon nodded against her stomach and brought his other hand to her clit, rubbing circles through the panties. Tessa cursed as she brought one hand to his hair, the other forearm leaning on his shoulder to keep her upright as she reached her climax. He continued to work her with his fingers until she stopped him. Standing up again, he pulled her into his arms and walked them to the bed where he lay her on her back and rested on his elbows as her eyes opened again and she grinned at him.

"I still haven't said your full name," She giggled, winding her fingers in his hair as he smiled back at her.

"Is that a challenge? I think I said 'scream' my full name."

Tessa groaned and shook her head, "This is really not the time."

"If they can sleep through Ron's snoring they won't hear you..." Brandon whispered, rubbing his nose against hers as he squeezed her boob before popping open the front clasp of her bra.

Tessa brought herself onto her elbows to help him get rid of the garment, reaching for the clasp on the garter belt as Brandon ran his fingers over her chest.

"No," He placed his hand over hers at the thin band of material, "Leave them on."

Tessa raised an eyebrow at him but nodded as he brought their lips together again and lowered himself back on top of her. She whimpered as he pulled her panties to the side again and lined himself up, checking that she was ok with it before he pushed inside her. Tessa groaned and sunk her teeth into his shoulder, causing Brandon to speed up his thrusts as he balanced on one arm, his other hand sliding over her thigh to push her leg around his waist. She wrapped the other one around his waist tightly as he began to slam his hips against her, his breathing becoming more erratic as he kissed her neck sloppily before burying his face in the pillow.

"Are you close?" He mumbled into the pillow.

Tessa shook her head as he brought his face up to look at her, "But it's fine, you already..."

Brandon grunted a protest noise at her explanation and rolled onto his back, his arms wrapped around her so she landed on top of him. He sat up and buried his face against her neck as he began to move her hips on him until she found her own rhythm. With his fingers clutching onto the back of the garter belt, she felt him bite the base of her neck each time she moved. He was so close, she had no idea how he was holding back. Mercifully, their new position helped her reach the same high as him quickly and she whimpered against his ear as she felt herself reach the edge. Brandon's hand wound through her hair as he looked at her, his lips parted and the gorgeous noises escaping them helped push her into bliss for the second time.

"Fuck, Bran--" She yelped as her vision went fuzzy and she felt her legs go limp around him.

Brandon stilled against her as he reached his climax too with a loud grunt, rocking her hips against him slowly as they came back to Earth. He grazed his fingers up and down her back as they caught their breath.

"Merry Christmas," He whispered in her ear, causing her to burst out laughing.

She could feel his chest shaking in laughter too as she looked around at the glowing numbers on the clock. Sure enough, 00.45. Christmas morning. It must have just passed midnight as their movie finished downstairs, but neither of them had been paying attention to anything but each other at that point.

Tessa held the sides of Brandon's face as he smiled at her sleepily, kissing him and stroking his cheekbones with her thumbs. They made out lazily for another few minutes, before Tessa dragged herself off him and pulled on one of his t-shirts and a pair of her sweatpants, sliding open the glass door that led them out onto the balcony overlooking the still illuminated city. Brandon followed her in his own similar outfit and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing from her shoulder up to her jaw as they cooled down in the chilly night air.

"Do you two think you're quiet?" A voice from the darkness made them both jump.

Tessa's head snapped around to see a very drunk Ronnie and Tom grinning back at them from the balcony attached to their own room. She half-groaned, half-laughed and covered her face with her hand as Tom started clapping. She didn't need to look up to know Brandon was blushing despite his pleasant giggle.

"You might wanna find your noise-cancelling earphones," Tom sassed, "Feels like a competition now."

"We thought you were asleep!" Brandon protested with a giggle.

"We were asleep," Ronnie shot back, raising his glass of wine in a cheers motion, "I don't know which one of you screamed but it was loud as hell. We were impressed."

"So much for silent night, holy night," Tom agreed, shaking his head.


End file.
